Publication Overview

dmzine contains hints and tips to help designers manage their design studio better.

It's not the type of content you will find in management books or university courses – it's a collection of articles based on 25 years experience running a design business in Australia. Every article directly relates to managing a design practice.

Organisation

Mackay Branson design

Team

Greg Branson
Carol Mackay
Claire Reiser

Editorial Brief

Our aim in publishing dmzine is to build a higher level of professional business practice in graphic design.

Through our travels we talk to a lot of colleagues and all have a common problem – getting clients to take design seriously. We believe that in part this is because not all designers are as good at business as they are at design. They work in their business but not on the business. dmzine helps designers to work on their business.

We also believe we should all give back to the community.

Design is our community and dmzine is how we share.

Your Audience

The audience consists of design studio owners and managers. The readers vary from small studios to owners of larger studios. While they are largely Australian we have a loyal following in the US, the UK and Japan.

We publish 4 articles per week and have 2,500 visitors per week. They read three articles on average and stay for 15 minutes per visit.

Each week an email newsletter alerts designers to the latest articles. The opening rates on these emails is 6 time the industry average giving testimony to the value designers place on the content.

Publication Innovation/Need

dmzine fills a gap in the Australian design market. With very few courses on design management and most studio owners too worried about competition to share their 'secrets', dmzine gives practical advice based on 25 years of experience of two designers.

The content is based on current studio activities at Mackay Branson design. It also shares the things we are reading and research we have done on the practice of a creative business.

While many design publications are show and tell, dmzine delivers unique content about design practice across four categories; business, marketing, finance and project management.

Sustainability

dmzine is only produced as an online version to avoid the environmental cost of printing and mailing a print based magazine.

All articles are short and to the point. They avoid lengthy site visits as a means of reducing the environmental cost of online browsing.

It is sustainable as a project because it is based on a practicing design studio and follows the daily challenge of running a design business.