22 October 2012

Sea and Navy magazine

To see the English version of the special issue of Mer et Marine for Euronaval 2012, go here.

Style may have suffered due to pressure of work over the last few days to get this finished and on line in time, but on this particular occasion I want to raise a different issue, namely language- and culture-specific typography and layout.
The source is French written for a readership comprising naval industry professionals and the broader maritime and technical communities with sometimes less specific knowledge of naval defence, despite their keen interest.
The target version is written for a more tightly defined readership of naval defence professionals.

This is the first time in my long career that I have had the pleasure of such a good working relationship with the editor-in-chief and his graphic artist and the first time that constructive dialogue between us all has resulted in the adoption of some layout conventions specific to the English version, hence different from the French version. I refer specifically to white space between the paragraphs for improved reading comfort and the minimal capitalisation of heading and subheadings allowing the unambiguous use of military acronyms.

Please feel free to comment? Your feedback, positive or negative, will be most welcome.

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