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Lifetime Achievement
Award Winner
 Jan White
Visual Journalist,
Publication Designer, Teacher
Charismatic
consultant
emphasizes cooperation between
art and editorial,
and service journalism |
He was a graphics editor before
the term came into vogue. He was a visual journalist, in
the broadest sense, before Google had 96,000 entries for
the phrase.
Now Jan White, the charismatic 79-year-old
consultant and publication designer, is this year’s
winner of the ASBPE Lifetime Achievement Award (LAA).
White received his honor at the Azbee
Awards of Excellence banquet the evening of Aug. 2,
2007 at New York City’s Roosevelt Hotel.
Uniting design and editorial
For the first time, ASBPE bestows its
lifetime achievement recognition on someone primarily from
the design side of the business-to-business (B2B) community.
Yet White long has been a leading voice
for understanding between editors and art staff about the
role they play together in the success of B2B publications.
A major White tenet, in fact, is that “word
people must think visually and picture people must think
verbally.” In thesymbiosis that results, designers
and editors work together, understanding the vocabulary of
both disciplines. Combining their skills helps the reader
grasp information quickly and understandably.
“As professional communicators,
our task is to achieve what our clients [readers] need, blending
each of our specialties into one product,”White says.
“Our work may be judged by its
excellence as splendid writing, innovative creativity, emotive
image-making, but those are just secondary qualities, essential
though they be. Our value to clients depends on how good
we are at interpreting their problem, because that’s
the very root from which our verbal or visual communication-solution
grows.”
Design contributes to service journalism
While he doesn’t hesitate to acknowledge
that B2B magazines are commercial operations — not
fine art or literature — White believes that skilled
editors and graphic designers can combine to deliver well-designed
information that is rational and logical, rather than primarily
emotional, as some publication designers prefer. And as is
true for so many great journalists, Jan White’s views
lead him into the realm of service journalism.
Past
LAA honoree Don Ranly, longtime service-journalism proponent
and professor emeritus at University of Missouri School of
Journalism, describes White thus: “Jan White has always
taught that the purpose of design is to enhance the message — nothing
more, nothing less.No one, no one has done or taught that
better.” Once, when someone approached White and said
that she, too, was a designer, Ranly recalls, “Jan
replied, ‘Well, dear, I hope you grow up to be a journalist.’”
By his own count,White has given more
than 1,800 seminars to publishers, editorial organizations,
and technical associations around the world.
“Ask a regular attendee at ASBPE’s
National Editorial Conferences to list her or his favorite
programs, and you’re likely to hear Jan’s name — and
to see a smile,” said ASBPE president Roy Harris, a
senior editor at CFO magazine.“His way of
combining common sense and the tough day-to-day requirements
of making articles clear and psychologically appealing to
readers is a model for teachers of journalism, as well as
for writers on all educational topics.”
A prolific author
 In
his own write…
Now in its third edition, Jan White’s
book Editing
By Design has become the bible of many a
publication
designer and editor. Jan White’s companion book, Designing
for Magazines, has achieved similar stature. Here
are some excerpts.
- “To test the effectiveness of a headline,
read it out loud, then ask ‘So what?’ If the
answer is … ‘Not much,’ then it isn’t
involving enough. … Dead titles are products of lack
of thought … regardless of the puns or cleverness of
wording.”
- “Clusters of short elements pull better
than long essays.”
- “Use infographics to replace long
descriptions. …”
- “The skimmer should gather the gist
of the story from the headline, deck, and subheads.”
- “Nobody wants to read everything.
Making it obvious that it is skippable implies permission
not to read, which is psychologically comforting.”
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White has consulted for numerous publishing
companies and publications, including National Geographic,
The New York Times, CBS, and the McGraw-Hill, Advance,
Reed-Elsevier, Webb, Meredith, Gorman, Intertec, Kalmbach,
Bill Communications, Cygnus, and Dowden organizations. While
he took on fewer design jobs for specific magazine titles
after the late 1980s, his work continued in locations as
distant as Brazil, England, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden.
“I worked with and for publishing
companies and associations of various kinds, all over the
world, and they showed me titles that I would comment on,
suggest, cajole, beg, and generally excoriate, as required,” notes
White. “Some I spent a day on, others 10 minutes after
a lecture in a corner on a couch in the corridor. Those were
the most useful consultations, always free! How can one not
answer good questions? Besides it is so much fun, and maybe
even good for our professions.”
He has taught courses on communication
design at schools from New York to Anchorage, and for seven
summers instructed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
White has 15 books to his credit, including Editing
by Design, Graphic Idea Notebook, Color for Impact, Using
Charts and Graphs, Designing for Magazines, and the Xerox
Publishing Standards.
His articles have appeared in Folio:,
Step-by-Step, Ragan Reports, Magazine Week, and Credit
Union Marketing. He has been a columnist for Dynamic
Graphics, Technique, Graphic Solutions, Computer Publishing, and EP&P.
In Editing by Design, White
examines how a magazine is “used” by the reader — offering
a virtual lesson in physiology, psychology, and common sense.
The book is in its third edition.
He presents the subject with the same
verve, wit, and intellectual stimulation that color his conference
sessions and workshops. And, of course, he shares his gifts
with audiences both visually and verbally.
Now living in Westport, Conn., where
he tries to hide from magazines by sculpting, he still finds
time to speak and to write. He has degrees in architecture
from Cornell and Columbia Universities.
But it was during White’s first
job as a temporary draftsman for Architectural Forum that
he fell in love with making magazines. That “temporary
job” lasted 13 years, as he moved from Architectural
Forum to become art director of its sister publication, House & Home.
His first talk on the relationship of
designing to editing was delivered to the New York Business
Press Editors’ Association in 1958.
In 1995,White was awarded the Swedish
Word and Picture Academy’s Lidman Prize “…for
his extensive authorship and exceptional services to design
education.”
Lasting advice
In a recent interview in Publishing Executive,
White suggests that the way to approach readers/clients was “not
to be creative…. Cool it — solve the client’s
problem. Don’t build monuments to yourself, don’t
decorate.… Simplify. … Understand the message
so you can express it clearly. Understand what your reader
buys your product for.”
What Others Say
Noelle Skodzinski, Editor-in-Chief
Publishing
Executive
When I hired Jan as a columnist for Publishing
Executive, I knew I’d be getting a brilliant contributor.
I did not know that I’d also be getting much more — a
mentor whose quirky stories would continually remind me to
work hard, but not too hard.
He once asked me, “What’s
more important, living or the job?” Then, he said, “The
amazing thing is that if you choose ‘living,’ you’ll
do a far better job.”
Jan seems to drain every last drop of
enjoyment and humor not only out of life, but also out of
work, and he has managed to help me do that as well, at least
on most days. In an e-mail he sent me after I had a particularly
hectic few weeks, he wrote, “You are an editor, by
God! Not a hamster. Editors are valuable for their insights
and knowledge, and capacity to manipulate thoughts, not for
the number of actions they can perform in a 14-hour day!”
I have benefited professionally and
personally from my work with Jan, and I feel very fortunate
that our paths in this life have crossed.
The industry has
benefited immensely from his ongoing contributions; his
books, columns, and lectures have inspired many of us and
helped
us create better products. And, best of all, he has made
us laugh in the process.
There is no question that he is a well-deserving
recipient of this lifetime achievement award.
Bert Sugar, Editor/Publisher
[FPO] Magazine, Aurus Design
Long before I met Jan White, I already
knew how he thought. His book, Editing
By Design, was required
reading for my publication design classes at American University,
not because of the specific content (although it was — and
remains — practical and poignant) but because the overall
philosophy of serving editorial content and reader needs
is a great antidote to the self-involved narcissistic tendencies
of young designers.
When I finally met Jan at Folio:Shows
in New York where we presented, I was both impressed and
humbled at his engaging presentation style and his persuasive
argument that only design and editorial working together
will fully involve readers.
Indeed, at one show in Chicago
in the mid-90s when Jan was stranded at home by a snowstorm,
I filled in for him on an hour’s notice; an easy task
since so much of the material echoed my own philosophy of
design. Hardly a coincidence.
Roberto Civita, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief
Editora
Abril
Jan is unquestionably the wisest, most
pragmatic, and best designer that we at Editora Abril have
ever had the good fortune to work with.
With his impeccable
good taste, creative panache, warm wit, and practical advice,
he has contributed to making our publications better at
communicating with their readers and trained a few generations
of editors
to deal constructively with their art directors and magazine
design. Our only regret is that he doesn’t live in
Brazil!
Thomaz Souto Corrêa, VP,
Editorial Committee
Abril Group
I consider it very appropriate for an
editors society to name Jan White for such a prestigious
award. Because I don’t consider Jan merely a designer
or a professor. Jan is one of the best editors I have known,
and we have been working for a lifetime together.
Since he came for the first time to
Brazil, to lecture for our editors and designers, he revolutionized
the way we work, with an obvious and clear concept: The success
of any magazine lies in having their editors and designers
working together for the benefit of the reader.
Not a surprise that the first word he
learned in Portuguese was bagunça, or “what
a mess”… It was a mess.
Thanks to him, not anymore.
Blake R. Kellogg, Professor Emeritus
University of Wisconsin-Madison
One day, in one of my seminars, a newspaper
writer told me he recently attended a seminar conducted by
Jan White.My newspaper friend said, “He’s really
good.” I purchased a book by Jan White entitled Editing
By Design. It was a revelation!
In that one book, which was Jan’s
first, published in 1975, he set forth all of the major principles
of design for periodicals. Not only did the book provide
a wide array of recommendations and guidelines, but it was
written in a conversational, easy-to-read style. For me,
it was comparable to finding the Holy Grail. The
book was a wonder to behold! After that, Jan’s book
was required reading for all of my periodical design classes.
Two years later, Jan published a sequel
entitled Designing for Magazines. Just like its predecessor,
it, too, contained all the advice that any editor would ever
need to know. And, it, too, became required reading.
It finally occurred to me that if Jan’s
books were so good, perhaps it would be useful to have the
author of those books present a one- or two-day seminar on
periodical design. So, I contacted Jan White, and he agreed
to come out to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to conduct
a one-day seminar for newspaper and magazine writers, editors,
and publishers.
At the first seminar, about 125 people
attended. The responses from all of the professionals attending
the seminar were universal in their praise.
We invited Jan
White back to the University for several repeat performances.
Even after his first presentation, he conducted a two-day
seminar
to a packed house of 200 professionals.
Always, his style of communication was
magnetic. He captured his audience right from the start,
and held them for eight
hours, two days in a row. And, always, he received rave
reviews.
Jan White is not only a remarkable and
talented periodical designer, but he is a gifted writer and
an extraordinary “communicator.”
In my opinion, he is virtually without
peer in his talent not only for graphic design, but in his
ability to communicate his message.
Even though we’ve never met, I
feel I know Jan White personally through his teachings and
our mutual friend, Don Ranly (Professor Emeritus, University
of Missouri School of Journalism and 2005
ASBPE Lifetime Achievement Award winner).
Jan’s contributions in understanding
the reader and his practical design techniques that advance
the story have been the cornerstone of Advanstar’s
Editorial Audit program for years. I think Jan’s workshop
handouts and textbooks should be a part of every designer’s
and editor’s toolbox. His common-sense design approach
captures readers with a verbal and visual blend. Jan has
indeed perfected the art of magazine making. |
In His Own Words:
The editor/designer partnership
While I was studying architecture
at Cornell, our goldmine was a magazine: Architectural
Forum. It had news, design trends, swipeable details… everything
we students needed. It was just as indispensable to real
architects. This was 60 years ago, yet drop the name Forum in
a group of architects today, and you get immediate smiles
of recognition and nostalgia.
So: June 1951: Newly-minted “architect” awaiting
the draft to Korea. Now what?
I bump into a buddy. “Know anybody
who can draw? The Forum is desperate for a temp
draftsman.” (That’s when we still used pencils
and pens with ink to make marks on real paper).
Next morning I started my job in Paradise.
So help me, the first window of my working life looked down
at the skating rink from the 10th floor of 9 Rockefeller
Plaza. In the first hour I knew that for me, architecting
was dead. How can anything be as exciting as magazine making?
I finagled a deferment so I could become a permanent employee
and get my job back after the army. Thirteen years of square
peg in a square hole. I knew our subject matter inside out
and learned the technicalities of art-directing on the job.
Why this ancient history? It’s
taken me 56 years to figure out the foundation of our magazine’s
stature. It was not magic. It was also never money. We bled
that, but we were protected by Henry Luce, who loved architecture,
so our losses were covered by the profits from Time,
Life, Fortune and the soon to be started Sports
Illustrated (whose code name was MNORX). The stature
came from the editor: Doug Haskell. He was a great conversationalist
and used pungent pipe tobacco and never seemed very busy.
He didn’t edit by retrofitting and improving what the
writers produced. He edited by leading.
Every month we’d all get a mimeographed
two-page memo, describing the upcoming stories in a few simple
sentences. The first sentence identified the facts: building
type, architect, location. The next ones defined the reason
for publishing: Why should our friends the readers care?
What can they learn from this in practical terms? That encapsulated
the reason for our existence. It was so obvious, so right,
that we didn’t realize how much thought and courage
went into it.
The real payoff? We
automatically worked as an intellectual team because we knew
the direction in which to organize, write, illustrate, photograph,
assemble, and lay the thing out. That’s where we started
from, at least. If the story wanted to develop in a different
direction as it was worked on, fine!
How did we work? Doug
had studied memos, research reports, a few lousy photos,
rolls of blueprints from the architects — and convened
a story conference. He, the writer, and the art director
secreted ourselves and discussed what we had, why we had
it, how much space it might be worth, how to bust it into
its significant components.
The story began to have a skeleton — an
intellectual structure based on reader value. To pin it all
down, we were forbidden to quit the room until working heads
for each section or page were written. That was the last
thing we felt like doing, because we were pooped. But it
was inescapable discipline, so we’d know precisely
where we were headed.
So the AD went off to do layouts suggesting
how much space the writer had (inevitably too short, of course)
and glue it up with rubber cement using cut-out sheets of
dummy type, temporary pix, notes etc. (Scotch tape had not
yet been invented.)
The writer went off ostensibly to gather
facts and write copy but, in fact, waste time till the last
possible moment.
Then we’d re-assemble to see how
it was working, and start arguing. Never about esthetics,
or cute typographic preferences, fun, or being different … but
whether it was optimally functional: Did it reveal the usefulness
of the information to our subscribers? The goal? Clarity.
Simplification. Service. What mattered was the content as
defined in Doug Haskell’s sentences. That’s the
immensely hard work that had made the book a goldmine.
Jerry Hoberman was editor of The
Journal of Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning, and
he was staggered by this way of working when he did a freelance
article for us. He thought the only way to make magazines
was to write the manuscript, gather the illustrations, send
it as a lump to an artist to make it pleasing to the eye. “Whaaat?
You actually read the text and discuss it?”
In 1962 he talked me into doing a five-session
lecture series for NY BPEA …and that started it, because
I discovered that what we were doing was different from the
way other books were assembled, and I had this fun of pretending
to be a guru. So I’ve been preaching the integrated
Editing-by-Design technique ever since.
The art director of Life was
Bernard Quint — great guy: in 1965 he recommended me
to a publisher in Brazil, and that started a whole career.
Anyway, he said this just now: “The use of design for
its own sake has increased in contemporary magazines in direct
proportion to the lack of content.” Cynical? Of course.
True? Unfortunately.
To thrive despite the visual competition,
we must craft an indispensable product that must do two things:
1. Establish its own character so
it is recognized at first glance (that is consistent design).
2. Establish its immediate intellectual
value (that is editing — except the word “immediate” demands
visual interpretation, so it pops out for immediate accessibility:
editing by design).
Our value lies in how well we interpret
the material we believe they need. The way we analyze, write,
edit, arrange, and display its nuggets is the result of congenial
accord among the team’s members. The editor leads the
team, but we must understand our shared purposes, know the
targets we appeal to, and together exploit the capabilities
of our good old dependable paper medium.
Designing is not separate from editing.
The thinking is identical. It isn’t a separate function,
but integral with the editing process, because it is the
visual lubricant for our ideas.
Sixty years ago, the Forum’s
ideas were what mattered, and its design made them visible.
Nothing has changed. Whether it appears on screen or on a
paper substrate, its value is now and ever shall be content.
The ideas we promulgate must be apt.
It is terribly difficult putting ourselves in the place of
the subscriber, but that is our job. Doug Haskell’s
acid test: read the headline out loud and ask “So what?”
If the answer is a shrug, you know what
to do. |
About the Lifetime Achievement Award
Our Lifetime Achievement Award
was established in 2000 to recognize editors
who have made significant and lasting contributions
to our editorial profession and to the industries
their magazines serve. Previous recipients were
To receive the Lifetime Achievement award, a candidate
must meet four requirements:
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Significant tenure (20 years or more) on business publications.
Nominees need not currently hold editorial positions, and may
be retired, but they must have spent the bulk of their careers
in senior editorial positions. Nominees need not be members of
ASBPE.
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A commitment to editorial excellence. This may
be demonstrated by general reputation of their publications(s);
industry-related awards (e.g., ASBPE, Neal Awards, Folio:); internal
company awards; other forms of recognition or other valid measures
of editorial success.
-
A commitment to the business and professional press.
Nominees should be or have been involved in lending their experience
and time to benefit others in the business press. Examples might
be participation in local or national business press or related
organizations, corporate or university teaching, mentoring programs,
or significant research or publication of articles on business
press issues.
- A commitment to the industries their publications serve.
Examples include committee work with trade or professional associations
or standards groups; frequent speaking engagements at industry events;
significant research or publication of articles on industry issues;
or significant advocacy work with government agencies.
Home
American Society of Business
Publication Editors
214 North Hale St.
Wheaton, IL 60187
(630) 510-4588
Fax: (630) 510-4501
E-mail: info@asbpe.org
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