The Institute of Transportation Engineers is proud to announce that ITE Journal has been awarded the APEX 2015 Award of Excellence in the category Magazines, Journals, and Tabloids—Most Improved. The award-winning ITE Journal redesign effort is a culmination of visual and content improvements that have been led by Marianne Saglam, ITE communications and media senior director, and Michelle Birdsall, ITE Journal senior editor and writer, working with magazine design firm ContentWorx. ITE’s winning entry compared the September 2014 issue of ITE Journal with a 2011 issue published prior to increasing improvements that have been several years in the making.
The ITE Journal redesign reflects input from ITE members obtained through the Membership Needs and Satisfaction Survey. Based on the survey, staff redesigned ITE Journal with a whole new visual format to complement content changes that now include more interviews, case studies, member profiles, technology spotlights, and success stories. With Michelle assuming a new role that provides full-time writing and editing for the journal, the redesign supports more opportunities for ITE members to develop original articles on new initiatives and lessons learned, as well as articles from outside industry partners and sister organizations. Members also have a voice through the addition of several new columns. A more cohesive approach to ITE Journal content has meant more linkage to ITE’s complete array of resources, from webinars and new publications to meeting content and follow-up discussions generated on ITE Community. The goal of the redesign has been to provide the membership with a valuable resource for addressing everyday work challenges, and it is just one aspect of the overall steps ITE has been taking to enhance and evolve its services.
APEX 2015, the 27th Annual Awards for Publication Excellence, is an international competition that recognizes outstanding publications from newsletters and magazines to annual reports, brochures, and websites. According to the APEX 2015 judges, "The awards were based on excellence in graphic design, quality of editorial content, and the success of the entry in conveying the message and achieving overall communications effectiveness."