California Home + Design Goes Digital...Almost

If you’re a designer or architect, being published in print always meant greater visibility for prospects to discover your work and thus hire you. So what has changed? Well, a lot.

California Home + Design is one of the leading consumer and trade magazines that focuses on California designers, properties, products and design trends. In the past, the magazine avoided taking great risks and as a result, content remained stagnant and well at times, boring.

With Ms. Erin Feher acting as Editor(-in-fierceness) for CH+D, this is all about to change. Starting 2013 CH+D Magazine will release new issues on quarterly basis in an effort to shift readers from print to online content. Interestingly enough, Erin was behind CH+D’s first stab at digital content leading the release of their first digital issue back in May 2011.

Having worked with many designers and architects in the past and at present, I played devil’s advocate for quick Q&A with Ms. Feher:

RT: For many designers, earning coverage in CH+D is milestone and accurate measurement of success. How do you anticipate the changes to quarterly publication will affect exposure for younger designers?
EF: Obviously, the total number of houses we will be able to feature will be more limited. But we will still have the same focus on spotlighting a balanced mix of both up-and-coming and established designers. All I can say is that the houses will be the best of the best, and that isn’t going to change.

RT: You’ve definitely changed the style of CH+D, including a rebranding. What are some of the other planned changes for 2013? 

EF: There will be other sections within the book that will offer exciting new venues to highlight the work of up-and-coming designers. This year for our 2013 CH+D Awards we have added the category “Emerging Designer,” which will celebrate those just getting started in the industry. Designers can submit for that, as well as our 10 other categories.

RT: We’ve been talking about online content for years. Will the magazine be investing more in online content to supplement the loss of print visibility?
EF: Our online presence has been growing constantly over the last few years—from californiahomedesign.com to our social media platforms to creative partnerships with other brands—and will only continue to do so. This definitely means more online content, including an increased number of house tours, inspiration room galleries, product round ups and events coverage—all things we believe work especially well on the web.

Whether you’re a designer or architect, it is time to understand that although print coverage is important, it is now diminishing as a platform for prospects to discover your work. The question is will this shift motivate you to change your own idea of marketing with online content?

To learn more about Content Marketing and Inbound Marketing for the design trade, check out our Designer Marketing 101 blog and follow Roberto @OpenBerto on twitter!