State publications win top magazine awards

ATLANTA, May 30, 2006 - Two Georgia publications designed to attract investment in the state recently won honors in the GAMMA Award competition held by the Magazine Association of the Southeast (MAGS).
The 2006 Georgia Travel Guide took home top honors in the Best Redesign, Consumer/Free (less than $1 million) category. The travel guide, published annually by Emmis Custom Publishing for the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD), underwent a complete redesign from the previous year's issue in order to make it easier for travelers to use and to incorporate the state's new brand. The new guide was hailed by the judges as 'a solid revamping [that] improved charts, tables and maps, improved the architecture and formatting, and brought in a more sophisticated palette of colors and typography.'

In addition, the Georgia Music Production SourceBook 2005-2006 won several GAMMA awards. The sourcebook was awarded a silver GAMMA for Best Single Issue and a bronze for General Excellence in the Business to Business (less than $1 million) category. Also in that category, the article 'Pioneers Build R-E-S-P-E-C-T for Georgia's Music Industry' took a gold award for best design. Judges noted that 'cool typography and photography, both vintage and contemporary, combine to create a record album feel that perfectly reflects the subject.' The sourcebook, a joint venture of Oz Publishing, Inc. and GDEcD's Film, Video & Music Office, is a comprehensive resource guide to Georgia's extensive music industry assets.

'It's exciting to see these two outstanding publications honored by the industry,' said GDEcD Commissioner Craig Lesser. 'These awards and those recently won by our redesigned Web site, georgia.org, are fitting recognition for the tremendous work we've put into making it easier for people to get to know all that's great about Georgia.'

The awards were presented during MAGS' 17th annual conference on May 18. The GAMMA Awards competition recognizes editorial and design excellence in magazine publishing. Judging was conducted by a panel of magazine editors and designers.

The Georgia Travel Guide and the Georgia Music Production SourceBook are free publications that can be ordered online at GDEcD's Web site, www.georgia.org.

The Georgia Department of Economic Development is the state's sales and marketing arm, the lead agency for attracting new business investment, encouraging the expansion of existing industry and small businesses, locating new markets for Georgia products, attracting tourists to Georgia, and promoting the state as a location for film, video and music projects, as well as planning and mobilizing state resources for economic development. For more information, visit www.georgia.org.