Visual makeover of print and web credited with big growth at East Coast Living

A visual makeover of East Coast Living magazine and its companion website have paid off big time, according to a release from the magazine, which won the 2010 Makeover Contest sponsored by K9 Design, a leading Canadian design firm in Toronto.

The new logo, cover and interior layout for the quarterly homes and lifestyle title seems to have strengthened ad revenues, which have grown by 20 per cent since 2009.

Winter 2009 (before)

“East Coast Living now has a stronger look and feel and our new contemporary design is catering to our core group of readers but also to younger, urban readers, which is very exciting,” says publisher Patty Baxter.

National advertising grew from 15 per cent in 2009 to 27 per cent in 2011. Traffic on East Coast Living’s website, redesigned by Halifax design firm Kula Partners last year in conjunction with the makeover, has doubled, with a 232 per cent increase in unique visitors and a 214 per cent increase in total visits.

Winter 2011 (after)

Norm Lourenco, founder and creative director at K9 Design, is amazed with the results. “For East Coast Living to have accomplished this level of success proves that when you have the right message married with the correct visual language, it creates a powerful product,” he says.