Matthew Ball: Dumfries & Galloway Life redesign

Dumfires & Galloway Life is the the second county magazine I have redesigned for CN Media and is the award winning sister title to Cumbria Life which I worked on first.

For the new-look It made sense to transfer Cumbria Life's chassis, fonts and approach to the magazine, while still keeping a separate identity for the Scottish title with a new logo and colour pallet.

Publishing director and editor Richard Eccles said “ Dumfires & Galloway Life uses the same typography as Cumbria Life, but the redesign was less radical. D&GL is hitting the right readers and has a deliberately broader audience than our other magazines; we needed to make the current approach and content work better for the reader.”

The magazine is an essential guide for getting the most out of the region and showcasing the vibrant contemporary culture, thriving arts scene and news of how people are immersing themselves in the county life.

At the relaunch party Crichton Foundation convenor Dame Barbara Kelly described Dumfries & Galloway Life as “an institution” run by a team which engaged with and understood the community: “They are boosting our morale and saying we can hold our heads high and campaign for this part of Scotland which is often ignored and neglected."

Galloway and West Dumfries MSP Alex Fergusson said Dumfries & Galloway Life had become an integral part of life in Dumfries & Galloway: “We are incredibly good at talking ourselves down in Dumfries & Galloway but the magazine has never done anything but talk us up. I hugely congratulate everyone involved in it. Thank you for doing what you do for this region.”

I also worked closely with commissioning editor Andrea Thomson and Sara Valentin and Lindsay Molloy on the production team.