Knowing that the finished product needed to appeal to young and old alike, we started by finding the right personality. It had to show a respect to family and tradition yet have a fresh edge. This was lovingly referred to as “the new vintage” in the first magazine, and the design choices centered around the Kirby Cultural Arts Complex—a key landmark of Person County still in use today.

We focused on the best way to create an engaging experience from beginning to end. Our approach was to feature community involvement, create dynamic visuals of the entertainment, highlight the sponsors, and organize an easy to follow business directory. People enjoyed seeing familiar faces and events in print, and having the events they love so much promoted in this manner.

Because this guide is used as a reference for newcomers to the area, emphasis was placed on reformatting the guide to standardize the appearance of advertisements and build a placement system among the articles. Former issues had a complex design with sizing inconsistencies and randomized placements, often causing advertisements to get lost within the articles. We were able to successfully harmonize the two so that advertisements were effectively distributed throughout the guide