The client was looking for a modern, dynamic design to engage
the readership, which has a wide demographic profile with all age
groups included and is global, with many readers speaking English
as their second language. Shell also wanted more in-depth features
in the publication to compliment existing news and people
stories.
Fleet News has to engage readers, increase
their sense of belonging to Shell Shipping, raise their awareness
of wider issues affecting their jobs and ultimately raise the
profile of Fleet News among the company's seafarers.
Our design accommodates greater use of photography, while still
including snaps sent in by readers to maintain the publication's
personal feel. We made use of both Shell Shipping's photo library
and external image libraries to enable us to illustrate articles
with larger, eye-catching photos which draw readers in.
We also designed a stronger masthead and introduced a contents
list on the cover to make it easier for readers to navigate around
the publication.
To help vary the flow of the publication and keep readers
interested, we introduced a regular column called 'Bird's eye view'
which covers wider shipping sector news, raising readers' awareness
of what's going on in the industry they work in.
We also introduce a regular called 'Last word' - a photo story
on the back page - to give Fleet News a strong
sign-off. Both these regulars should also help to build reader
loyalty and familiarity with the publication.
To include more content and accommodate in-depth features,
meanwhile, we doubled the pagination from eight to 16 pages.
And we introduced a one-page column for the General Manager of
Ship Management, John Krousouloudis, positioned near the front of
the publication, to help raise his profile and get key messages
across to colleagues.
John Krousouloudis, who made the decision to relaunch Fleet
News, said the relaunch issue had raised the bar in Shell
Shipping's efforts to communicate with its seafarers.