The Current
A print journal with a site that was a PDF. Members paid. They still could not find last issue.
Year
2023
Role
Design & engineering
Type
Editorial
Stack
Publishing · Membership · Site
Before
A quarterly print journal. The website was the issue as a PDF and an about page. Members mailed a check. When they wanted the archive, someone emailed a Dropbox link.
What was hard
They did not need a media company. They needed the journal to exist online without turning into a blog. Membership had to mean the issues, not a newsletter they already got for free.
What we built
A site that is the journal. Issues, archive, authors. Membership that unlocks the issues. Print still ships. The PDF is a download for members, not the homepage.
After
New members come through the site. The archive is searchable. The print run did not die. It stopped being the only way to read it.
What shipped
- Issue and archive site
- Membership that unlocks issues
- Author and issue pages
- Member PDF download
- Handover to their editor