Readers Like New NU!

Readers Like New NU!

The verdict is in! The reviews are raves! Readers are very pleased with the latest design of National Underwriter. Since asking for feedback when we relaunched on March 8, I haven't received a single complaint.

When we first changed over from a newspaper format to a standard magazine design in July 2001, which was a huge transition for us, the response was overwhelmingly positive. Our design director, Don Heyl, did a terrific job reinventing NU for a new era.

Still, there were a handful of complaints, ranging from those who said the new type was too small (an optical illusion, since we kept the same type size) to some who simply were “homesick” for their old NU. But the plusses far outweighed any minuses.

The biggest improvements, readers said, were the magazine's new size (“I can now read NU with one hand and eat lunch with the other,” wrote one, while another, ignoring copyright law, said: “Your new format is a lot easier to copy and distribute”) as well as the fact that instead of “jumping” all over the publication, articles in the new design almost always continued on the next page.

However, when our new president, Andy Goodenough, came on board last October, he brought in a design consultant, Bob Lascaro, to offer a fresh perspective. The result is our latest design easier to navigate and more graphic-intensive for our time-challenged readers.

A representative sample of reader reaction:

“I really like your new format,” wrote Karen Burger, director of public relations for the American Institute of CPCU. “The cover design retains your traditional nameplate, but very much looks like a newsmagazine. The grouping of articles, as reflected on the contents page, makes the organization of the magazine clear. The whole look is clean and appealing.”

Tom Davis of Davis, Rafferty e-mailed that “as a former journalism teacher, I have to say I like the new look very much. It is fresh, crisp and clean looking. Keep up the good work.”

When I received an e-mail from Victor McCarley, executive vice president at the Alabama Independent Insurance Agents Inc., I held my breath because the introduction read: “You asked for feedback, so here it is.” Oh, oh.

I needn't have worried. “You can print the National Underwriter on used sandwich paper as long as you keep delivering the timely news and information we have become accustomed to receiving,” he wrote. “The color, layout, format and redesign are just a bonus feature. I look forward to my weekly synopsis of the week's important happenings in the insurance world and you deliver.”

Mr. McCarley had a pointa magazine's content is its most crucial element. However, let me assure you we did not redesign just to jazz up our look. Our goals are more substantial:

To focus reader attention on key stories with an expanded table of contents and cover blurbs.

To help readers grasp the gist of stories and determine their level of interest at a glance via snappier headlines, tag lines and additional decks.

To make articles easier to digest with more sidebars and info-graphics that stand on their own.

I want to thank all of those who took the time to write, and urge anyone who feels the urge to offer their critique to have at us. We are always open to constructive criticism. You may reach me at sfriedman@nuco.com.

Sam Friedman

Editor-In-Chief

Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, April 23, 2004. Copyright 2004 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.