QUARTO CREATIVE
Group Practice Journal
The American Medical Group Association’s (AMGA) member organizations boast more than 175,000 physicians, all of whom have come to rely on Group Practice Journal’s (GPJ) mix of clinical, industry and management guidance.
When it came time to redesign the magazine, the association had two main goals: 1) integrate the association’s recently revised brand identity; and 2) provide a more enjoyable reading experience for its audience.
AMGA’s brand identity is exemplified in its logo. It’s based on a blue/green color palette with sharp triangles and parellelograms. The redesign began by using these elements as its primary tools.
GPJ’s existing department structure came under scrutiny next. Frequently, articles lacked key wayfinding and organizational cues, such as topic headings. A new library of recurring topics was introduced, with special emphasis on the business case studies which would often highlight significant achievements of member organizations:
The interior designs walked hand-in-hand with the development of a new cover brand. It was understood that users would frequently abbreviate the publication title to “GPJ;” the redesign embraced the shortened title, even while maintaining a connection to the old brand for the benefit of newer members, who needed to familiarize themselves with the publication.
While the use of a single typeface in feature design can seem restrictive, it builds in a sense of stability. The choice of typeface — Forza, replete with multiple weights and a straightforward style — ensured that designers could develop elaborate type treatments without sacrificing consistency or legibility.
Knowing that GPJ’s design and editorial teams would be fielding articles with varying editorial voices and text densities, the layout grid incorporated a high number of column positions. Designers were easily able to suit the number of columns to the content and develop varied layouts from feature to feature.
