0.79 miles of Anaesthesia News!
As part of my role working as the in-house
designer for the Association, I have been
overseeing the design, print and safe delivery of
Anaesthesia News magazine to our members for
coming up to 12 years now.
In my calculations (during Lockdown 1), over 12
years that’s 140 issues and 4600 pages, which if
laid out in a straight line would stretch for 0.79
miles. A quarter of my life and goodness knows
how many cups of tea!
Do I really have to read this?
More often than not, articles arrive as a Word document with no
pictures. As a designer, it’s my job to try and make the magazine
look as eye-catching as possible for the reader, therefore I find
myself having to read through articles to try and source an image
that complements the written content. As you can imagine, finding
real images to accompany an article on ‘safe tracheal extubation
after general anaesthesia’, for example, often gives me a real
headache and I end up surrendering my search and opting for a
standard text article with no images!
Strange symbols (and I don’t mean hashtags!)
When I first started at the Association, I was often provided
with articles containing symbols and medical jargon that were
completely alien to me as a designer. Although I have a BA (Hons),
I am definitely a creative, and not an academic! Luckily, I was able
to check with my colleagues at
Anaesthesia journal to ensure
that I was using the correct symbols. Some of these only appear
to display correctly in the font Times New Roman and refuse to
work in the Association’s font Avenir Next LT Pro, defaulting and
displaying as an incorrect symbol.
Digital, print and the environment
During the first lockdown, Anaesthesia News could not be
printed for a 3-month period. However, we were able to create
an interactive PDF magazine so that our members could still
have access to their monthly issues on a mobile, laptop or iPad
during this time. This proved to be a huge success and the
feedback has been excellent. More than 3300 members have
now opted to continue to receive their issue electronically as a
PDF instead of print, which is great news for the Association’s
environmental strategy.
If you haven’t already done so, it’s easy to switch to paperless by
logging into your membership area and clicking the paperless
box. I find myself
humming the words ‘Let’s get digital, digital’ to the tune of Olivia
Newton-John singing the song Physical whilst writing this!
Front covers
Unlike academic journals, Anaesthesia News has a certain amount
of freedom when it comes to front cover images. We’re able to
add an element of fun compared with other organisations. We
have themed issues throughout the year, allowing for a variety of
subject matter to feature on the front cover.
It’s (not) full of adverts!
I also liaise with companies in the anaesthetics industry who
wish to advertise in
Anaesthesia News, ensuring that the latest
pharmaceuticals, new equipment, educational courses and other
products relevant to our members are featured. You may not know
but we carefully balance
Anaesthesia News, so that if we include
more adverts in an issue then we increase our editorial content to
balance the ratio – so your magazine will always be a good read
and never full of adverts.
Amazing team
I’ve worked with an amazing (ever-changing) editorial and staff
team over the past 12 years and I really enjoy designing and being
part of the
Anaesthesia News team. It’s also great to be part of
the team overseeing the transition of the magazine from print, as
we strive to reduce our carbon footprint and be more modern –
gearing towards the digital future, allowing members to read the
magazine on their electronic gadgets.
Happy 35th birthday, Anaesthesia News!
Chris Steer
Digital Designer, Association of Anaesthetists