Counselor Magazine Unveiling New Look in August

July 14, 2004, Trevose, PA — The Advertising Specialty Institute, the largest member organization in the promotional products industry, will unveil a major redesign to its flagship publication, Counselor magazine, with the August issue, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the publication.

“Our readers are time-starved, multi-tasking small business owners,” says ASI Publisher Richard J. Fairfield. “To that end, we made Counselor a faster read with crisper fonts, shorter articles and better article placement.” Fairfield also emphasized the fact that “editorial will now have a modern, clean design, which will complement the high-impact ads.”

The redesign also includes an integration of Wearables Watch, which will be presented in every issue, covering the latest news, products and trends. New columnists will present the latest technology, marketing techniques and financial issues, making Counselor a more effective management resource for promotional products professionals

Fairfield felt that the 50 year anniversary of Counselor was the ideal time to have the magazine’s design reflect the changes in the industry. Fairfield hired renowned designer Roger Black, who is credited with the facelifts of such prestigious publications as Esquire, Rolling Stone and The New Republic. The new Counselor design will hit the streets in August.

Black says his aim was to give Counselor a more contemporary look and feel and “create a magazine experience where the reader can easily enjoy and learn from the content as well as be enticed by the advertisements.”

In addition, the word “The” was dropped from Counselor’s title to present a stronger logo and allow more cover space for photography and cover subjects. The French gatefold, that has become a trademark of Counselor, will be replaced with an uncomplicated “Z” fold to present greater ad fields in the front of the magazine and keep the cover photography sharp.

Advertising Specialty Institute is the largest media organization serving the promotional products industry, with a membership of 20,000 distributors (sellers) and suppliers (manufacturers) of promotional products. Suppliers use ASI print and electronic resources to promote their products to more than 17,000 ASI distributors. Distributors use ASI print and electronic resources, which contain more than 650,000 promotional products, to locate supplier products and to promote their services to buyers of promotional products. ASI was founded in 1950 and employs a staff of 500. The company offers catalogs, informational directories, newsletters, magazines, websites and databases, and provides a variety of interactive business, marketing and selling tools.