@issue: The Journal of Business and Design

Following a conversation of how designers and business clients often talk past each other, writer Delphine Hirasuna and Kit Hinrichs developed a proposal to produce a publication arguing that good design contributes to business success. It has been used as a teaching tool in universities and has become an important case study reference piece. For more than 15 years, @issue was a 36-page full-color bi-annual publication that was mailed to business leaders, corporate communicators and the design and printing community, and it was made available to design and business school students. From an initial print run of 40,000, circulation had grown by popular demand to 100,000, and in 2002, @issue expanded its mission with a national conference.

     Each issue featured an interview with a business leader, and in-depth articles about how design led to the company's success.

Every issue had three case-study feature articles.

The design quiz was a reader favorite, and was frequently reproduced in corporate boardrooms and design classes.

The back page always featured a Business and Design Classic telling how the product/logo/mascot came to be.

In 2009, we converted @issue to a digital platform, striving to keep the same elements that made the print version so popular. Today, @issue—atissuejournal.com—is an online blog that appeals to a global audience. 

© 2021 Studio Hinrichs