Dever Designs may be a mid-sized design house in Laurel, Maryland, but it’s exciting to know our impact can be felt around the world. Some 10 years ago, we designed a prototype for Adventist World, the magazine for the Seventh-day Adventist world church. Today the magazine is printed in seven languages, reaches five continents, is published online in 12 languages, and has a monthly circulation of 1.5 million.
Project Background
Adventist World is a 32-page monthly publication that reaches a diverse demographic spanning the globe. The publication has a warm, personable and aspirational look and feel. A traditional layout features evergreen content printed in multiple languages.
Fun Fact: We were initially asked to design a magazine prototype, which successfully evolved into a 10-year relationship designing the publication. In May, we designed a customized “Friendship” issue of the magazine which included 27 editions in four languages for 13 world divisions.
Challenges of Going Global
While Dever Designs has an exceptional background in publication design, producing a global publication is an extraordinary undertaking in many ways:
• It requires working with translators in several countries to modify the content before it is reconfigured into the design.
• Great design work means purchasing affordable art and rights across multiple editions.
• Keeping writers, editors, designers and other team members in the loop is challenging, so we utilize the cross media publishing platform vjoon K4 to keep everyone on track.
Why It Works
All great relationships require trust and respect. One of the things we and our clients find mutually beneficial is the opportunity for honest feedback.
“At Dever Designs, we’re neither divas who have to have it our way, nor are we doormats that say, ‘yes, we’ll do whatever you want’,” Jeffrey Dever said. “We challenge our clients to help them meet their goals. We’re not afraid to push back about things that can’t or shouldn’t realistically be done.”
Staying Passionate
One of the main things that helps us stay passionate, especially after 10 years of working together, is the excitement and passion of the client and just how much the client affirms our staff and our team.
“You can tell how they really appreciate everything my team does for them and that proactivity,” Dever said. “Having a client who really values the work we do keeps us engaged.”
See more of this project here.
Interested in learning more about our work? Visit us at deverdesigns.com or call us at 301-776-2812.