From the Editor: We Hear You

IT’S OFTEN SAID that in today’s reality, change is constant and those who are able to adapt quickly or even take advantage of that fact are the most apt to survive and flourish. It’s no accident that “pivot” has entered our lexicon of business-speak given the events of the past year.

Change can be viewed as stressful, or it can be seen as an opportunity. We can fight change, or we can ride the ride, harness the momentum and drive our lives, our careers and our businesses forward into the future that awaits.
At VMSD, we’ve taken a first, important step in a series of changes that we believe will evolve our publication to better serve our customers – you, the reader. This past month, we’ve launched a completely new, redesigned website, vmsd.com, as well as a new International Retail Design Conference (IRDC) site, irdconline.com.

As our business evolves as quickly as the retail industry, this new site allows us to plant our flag as a media brand. If you are reading between the lines, I’ll address the elephant in the room first. The print version of VMSD will remain a valued vehicle of communication, much like stores remain a critical touchpoint for retailers. As designers and creatives, we understand that our readers treasure the print magazine, as do we. That won’t change.

But what is changing are the myriad ways in which we can communicate with our audience. That blend of online and “physical” mirrors in many ways the evolution of the retail industry. With the print magazine as our flagship, we are raising our game on the digital side so that we can deliver the best, most timely content in the business via a variety of vehicles, each reflective of the way in which professionals prefer to receive information.

On the new websites, you’ll see that we’ve borrowed a page from our print product – you’ll see bigger, more dynamic images (and more of them), improved navigation that marries our online and print content more effectively, new features like our Brain Squad and an emphasis on new project galleries. All of these changes are the result of listening to you, our customer, and evolving our brand to better serve our audience.

So please keep the feedback coming because we’re listening!

Jennifer Acevedo
Editor-in-Chief/Associate Publisher, VMSD Magazine