W.S.G. Isaac Newton

It may look like our association periodical, named the Appel, appears magically at your doorstep. But nothing could be further from the truth. Our team, the editors, consists of two groups: the writers and the graphic designers. They are working day and night to bring out new editions. Because creativity never ends and the research never stops.

The Appel is one of those things that really define Newton. Of all association magazines ours is unique in its format, the number of editions per year and its quality. This makes the Appel editorial trending topic regularly, within the circle of boards. Yet, for anybody who is not involved closely, it may not be clear who are part of the Appel editorial and how they achieve to fill and design the magazine 4 times per year.

First of all, it is important to know that the common committee structure is not applicable to the Appel editorial. There is no officer of external affairs, nor of promotion, no treasurer and not even a secretary. The Appel is chaired by a duo. The editor-in-chief and the chief editor together form the head of the committee and share the responsibility of the final product. The chief editor determines what to fill the magazine with and makes sure articles and other papers are delivered in time. Then the editor-in-chief takes care of professionally designing the layout and format of the magazine.

Who are the rest of the committee? Well, that would be a group of 12 students. This group can be divided roughly into two roles: the editors and the graphic designers. Even though, in reality, this division within the committee is not as clear as it would seem, the roles can be described as follows. The editors are the writers of articles. Currently, there are 9 active editors, researching topics, doing interviews, collecting data and writing about their findings. Being an editor doesn’t mean you have to present an original and extensive article in every edition. If sometimes you’re too busy, you can easily skip one edition. As soon as the editors have finished their work, it is the graphic designers’ turn. This smaller group of 3 designs the layout of all articles in InDesign. This is most of the time in collaboration with the editors to guarantee that their message is correctly transferred.

Lastly, I would like to address the methods of the Appel. Since there is not so much of a strict division of roles as compared to regular committees, meetings and other tasks are not as strictly organized either. The complete Appel editorial finishes off every academic year with a “beer storm”. During this event, we try to come up with potential themes for editions of the next year. From all the ideas we then make a selection of suitable and original themes. Every new edition starts with a brainstorm (always during lunch break) to come up with topics, ideas and activities, that match the theme of the edition. Though ideas with little or a lack of correlation to the theme are embraced as well. Afterward, all chosen articles and ideas are dibsed by an editor and is it time to start writing. Mostly two more meetings are held to check up on the progress of the articles.

If then all articles are more or less ready, it is time for the finish night and check night. These take place on two consecutive Monday nights. Editors are able to do the final touches on their articles and the articles are then checked for grammar and formulation mistakes. During the finish and check nights, the graphic designers are already busy building the Appel edition and adding the finished articles. After these nights the Appel is practically ready and is it up to the editor-in-chief to edit the very last details. The last step is to send the edition to the presser to get printed and delivered.

One common quote we have within the committee is: “The Appel is voluntary, though not without obligation”. This means that anybody can join the editorial, no selection criteria. However, we always strive for the highest possible quality.

In case you have become enthusiastic about the Appel after reading this, feel free and welcome to join our committee!

Cave Vermem!