The brief
Heron Press came to me before issue 12. The previous editorial designer had handed off a Word file with style overrides on every paragraph. Each issue cost two extra weeks because the editor was rebuilding the type system from scratch.
The decision
I went with Söhne over Inter for body. The smaller widths held up at 7pt for footnotes. I kept the existing display face (Cardinal Photo) because it had brand recognition with their readers and the new headline weight worked at the smaller cover sizes.
The system
The new InDesign master pages carry every paragraph style and character style the editor needs. The handoff document is a 12-page PDF with examples of every spread type, the font license terms, and the production notes for the printer.
What shipped
Two issues, twelve weeks. The editor hasn't asked for production help on issues 13 or 14.
"The handoff document was the first time I'd inherited a system I didn't have to reverse-engineer."