Request for Proposals: Bitch Magazine Redesign

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1 Request for Proposals: Bitch Magazine Redesign SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND Bitch Media, an award-winning, multi-platform feminist media organization, is currently accepting proposals to redesign our quarterly print magazine, Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture. The magazine has been redesigned a number of times during its 21-year run, most recently in This redesign will focus on developing a magazine that reaches beyond our current audience and deeply engages communities of color, queer communities, and those who are both developing and consuming popular culture from perspectives that are marginalized, erased, or otherwise fall under the radar of mainstream media. The purpose of this Request for Proposal is to solicit pitches from design firms and/or individual designers who can deliver a redesign concept for our magazine that meets these explicit audience goals. Extraordinary proposals will include an understanding of our history, mission, current brand identity, and the potential for a pivotal evolution in our print design that informs all our existing platforms moving forward. Ideal proposals will come from the communities we aim to reach. Bitch Media, founded in 1996, provides and encourages an engaged feminist response to pop culture. Our work is in print with Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture, online at bitchmedia.org, on the air with our podcasts, Popaganda and Backtalk, and on campuses around the world via Bitch on Campus. We offer writing fellowships and media internships on a quarterly basis. Find out more about Bitch Media at bitchmedia.org. PROPOSAL GUIDELINES This Request for Proposal represents our requirements for a magazine that is deeply informed by multiple designers or a design team that offers perspectives and concepts from our target audience. Proposals will be accepted until 5 p.m. PST on October 31, Any proposals received after this date will be considered on a case-by-case basis, but will not be prioritized. If the designer or design team submitting a proposal will be subcontracting any work in order to complete requirements for this project, each instance must be clearly stated on the proposal. Details on each subcontractor, including name and a link to the subcontractor s work, must also be included. All costs should be itemized and clearly explained. Contract terms and conditions will be negotiated upon selection of the accepted proposal. All contractual terms and conditions will be subject to review by Bitch Media and will include scope, budget, schedule, and other necessary items as pertaining to the project. PROJECT PURPOSE AND DESCRIPTION The purpose of this project is as follows: Bitch magazine, now in its 21st year of publication, requires a new visual design and layout to match its similarly re-determined editorial sections and goals. Our editorial team has already decided what each section of the magazine will require in terms of written content and is actively assigning work to writers. The challenge now is to develop a design that accentuates and amplifies our new editorial content goals NE 29th Ave., Portland, OR [p] [f] general@b-word.org bitchmedia.org Nonprofit and reader-supported since 1996

2 Bitch magazine has been referred to as dense, academic, and worst of all vintage. Though we love our academic community, and Bitch is often used in college classrooms, we want to deliver a design that challenges academic institutions to expand what s acceptable on campus. Though we will continue to publish features that require intense concentration and push our readers to digest nuanced perspectives, we want our magazine to feel accessible and inviting. And though we love the 90s, it s time to leave them behind. Design a magazine that makes Bitch difficult to ignore and impossible to deny. PROJECT DESCRIPTION: This redesign should incorporate the rich history of Bitch magazine s design with an eye towards radical change. Subtle nods to our brand s evolution will be appreciated. Clear variations on the current design are acceptable, but a more radical shift is preferred. The magazine should be irresistible to communities of color, queer communities, and those at the intersection of both. The magazine should be undeniably page-turning, with an even mix of photography, intentional illustration, and clear, clean use of type. Above all else, the new Bitch should be a product that can never be mistaken for Bust, Rookie, or Teen Vogue. PROJECT SCOPE The scope of this project includes design and layout, launching with the Revenge issue of Bitch magazine. The Revenge issue itself will be designed and produced in-house by our design and production teams from the templates created in this redesign. The selected design team will be responsible for working hand in hand with our art director to transfer editorial suggestions and priorities to the redesign process. It will also be responsible for conducting necessary audience feedback and industry analysis. The following must be met to achieve a successful project: Deliverables: + + Deliver complete InDesign templates for designing interior pages of an 80-page (plus covers) full-color magazine, which will provide a flexible but distinct structure to work with in designing the actual magazine. Include distinct designs for four major sections as well as individual pages for table of contents, masthead, and contributors pages. Each section has a unique purpose and requires a specific visual identity within the design system. Sections will include: front-of-book section with several one-page departments, features section, culture section, and organizational pages. Provide framework for ad pages, as well as ad-page templates: interior, inside covers, back cover). + + Explore cover design as part of a system, taking into account our mission, our approach to quarterly themes, and a strong tie to specific features within the magazine. Create a cover-design template that includes name of magazine, Feminist response to pop culture tagline, and space for cover lines. (Possible cover design for Revenge issue.) + + Provide guidelines for template use to support design of actual content by Bitch Media Art Director and team.

3 Process considerations: + + Consider that this magazine redesign could feed into a website iterative design and possible brand evolutions, and a new opportunity for this work, in Approach the work with a content-driven approach that highlights work of women and nonbinary people of color, for an audience of the same. + + Display an open, collaborative approach, welcoming of feedback but with a distinct design point of view. + + We will rely on your expertise and preferences to develop our more specific schedule for redesign, including additional discovery and ways to engage our team (design, and editorial stakeholders) at key points in the process. Bitch Media will provide a more specific creative brief summarizing work and decisions from the editorial team to start your discovery process, including: + + Map of entire magazine, indicating what type of content will be on which page + + Suggested word counts, notes about type of artwork and possible art-to-text ratio as a starting point + + Summary from critique of current design, in relation to how it functions now and should function + + Relevant thumbnail sketches to describe function of specific pages within sections, if helpful + + Brand elements that must be included (logo/masthead, cover elements, etc.) + + Target-audience information + + Print specifications (including trim size of magazine) REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL AND PROJECT TIMELINE All proposals in response to this RFP are due no later than 5 p.m. PST on October 31, Evaluation of proposals will be conducted on a rolling basis, with an expected selection date of November 2, Upon notification, the contract negotiation with the selected design team will begin immediately. Notifications to submitting teams who were not selected will be completed by November 8, PROJECT TIMELINE: Discovery must be completed by 11/10/17 (this date is negotiable). Design and Development must be completed by 12/8/17 (this date is negotiable). Files must be ready for implementation by 12/18/17 (this date is non-negotiable).

4 BUDGET All proposals must include proposed costs described in the project scope. Costs should be denoted as one-time costs or recurring costs. Pricing should be listed for each of the following items in accordance with the format below: One-time costs Recurring costs DISCOVERY DESIGN AND ITERATIVE DEVELOPMENT FINAL DEVELOPMENT Implementation TOTAL PROJECT COSTS:

5 BIDDER QUALIFICATIONS Bidders should provide the following items as part of their proposal for consideration: + + Design-team perspectives and familiarity with the body of Bitch Media s mission and work + + List of designers who will be working on the project, including time committed to the project itself + + Examples of relevant design work + + Testimonials from previous clients who have conducted similar projects + + Anticipated resources you will need from Bitch Media to complete the project + + Time frame for project completion + + Project-management methodology and tools. (We use and love Trello.) PROPOSAL EVALUATION CRITERIA Bitch Media will evaluate all proposals based on the following criteria: + + Overall project suitability + + Experience as it pertains to the project at hand + + Previous work on similar projects + + Value and cost + + Technical expertise + + Reputation within the design community