Well, at least that's the way I see it! Ideally, through its unique content and form, through its harmonious interplay of the verbal and visual, the Journal expresses the color and light of God's presence in our lives.
Each month the Journal begins as a blank canvas. We push-pin 64 empty, white pages to our storyboard wall, then watch as text and images bring them to life. But these pages don't come to life on their own. The editorial and design teams collaborate—prayerfully, diligently—to produce the transformation. During the month, we edit and shape the raw material. Articles are given greater clarity and precision. So are layouts. The architecture of each page is carefully considered. All toward the goal of achieving a lovely, coherent whole. It's a month-long journey from blurry to focused. Through ongoing critique and development, we arrive at a finished painting, as it were—the magazine you hold in your hand. And if all goes well, some of the white space we started with remains. Think of it as breathing space—grace space; as a symbol of life's poetic/aesthetic dimension, as space that is "full" of the purity and spirituality that infuses the Journal's message.
Our top design priority? Readability. The Journal values words as the principal expression of its mission. Words communicate the eternal Christ message of comfort and healing. Words convey the true-life stories at the heart of the Journal's coverage of people who lean on God in their everyday lives and therefore triumph and endure. Words matter.
