Redesign Time

When we had our all-staff come-together to hammer out the 2013 editorial calendar last June, we also put our heads together to discuss what we’d like to see in an FER redesign. It’s been a few years since our last makeover, and it was time to stop and ask, how can we best deliver information to you? Everyone brought samples of publications they liked and we dissected and discussed what it was about the design, fonts, graphics, page layouts and content length that made our favorite reads resonate.

We had no intention of messing with the quality of the content that you’ve come to expect from us, but thanks to the talents of our Art Director Julie Wilhm, we’re packaging it more dynamically, with larger photos, clean, easy-to-read font styles, less-dense copy blocks and the addition of fun add-ins that simultaneously break up text and deliver information. You’ll see examples in our news sections and in products.

In 2013, we’ll be adding a few new departments, including Close Up, personal profiles of professionals who’ve served in our industry in myriad capacities for decades. In Back Story, service agents will share how your employees use—and sometimes abuse—your equipment. Our hope is that if you know what’s really going on in the kitchen, you can tweak your training to head off abuses and extend the life of your equipment—the first Back Story is coming in January.

With this December redesign issue, we are happy to reintroduce the FER digital edition. We had originally toyed with a digital version years ago, but the cost was prohibitive and truth to tell, the demand for it at the time was not high. As with all technologies over time, costs decrease while benefits and ease-of-use increase so that we’re able to bring you an intuitive digital version that lets you access and search content on the go and link directly to websites to review additional information immediately. All of you who currently receive FER Fortnightly, our e-newsletter, will receive an email with the link to the digital edition.

We hope you enjoy the new look and enhanced accessibility to FER.

And Very Happy Holidays to all.