Strata Magazine
Strata Magazine was an online publication that predated the eventual rise of blogging. The premise was that real people had interesting stories to tell, and that Strata would provide an outlet for those stories as well as other creative endeavors including visual art, interviews, short stories, odd product reviews, and far more topics and approaches than we could possibly list here.
Letterhead System
When crafting Strata’s letterhead system, we wanted to keep a few ideas in mind. First, it had to be in keeping with the “do it yourself” aesthetic of the site itself. Therefore, each item was hand-assembled from stickers and rubber stamps. This also assured that no two items were the same, just like the stories on the site. In addition, creating materials this way was far more cost-effective because the materials were created as needed.
One item to note is the different calls-to-action stamped on the backs of the business cards and folded letterhead. The phrases say, “Ask the right questions,” “Create a dialogue,” and “Make your voice heard.”
Bookmarks
One of the challenges when promoting a literary site online is connecting with readers offline. An additional obstacle presents itself when any chain bookstore doesn’t allow any sort of promotion at a local level. We decided that a guerilla approach was not only necessary but justified.
We created bookmarks that were given to readers when they asked for them. They were then taken into stores and inserted into books so that potential buyers could also learn about the online magazine. Strata did get emails from people in different part of the country saying they discovered the bookmarks in their books (some provided unknowingly as parts of gifts), and that learning about the site was a nice surprise.