What the client needed.
The Kansas City Chamber of Commerce needed an annual flagship publication that could do three things at once: showcase member businesses, recruit new members, and stand on its own as a piece of editorial worth keeping. Earlier vendor attempts had landed somewhere between a sponsorship deck and a city guide — neither voice was right.
How the work got made.
Built a magazine system that uses a single typographic family at multiple weights to carry hierarchy, with full-bleed photography and tight column gutters that read as editorial rather than advertorial. Modular section openers — Member Spotlight, City Sector, Sponsored — separate paid placements from earned content visually, so readers always know what they’re looking at. Print and digital share the same master file; the digital edition adds search, link-throughs, and downloadable PDFs without any additional design work per issue.
What shipped, what changed.
Now in its multi-year run with the Chamber. Used at member onboarding, new-business outreach, and Chamber events as a take-home piece. The modular system has held across editorial refreshes and personnel changes on the Chamber side — sections updated without redesigning the magazine.