In thinking about a new look for Decisions in Imaging Economics, art director Tom Kawabe and I kept one word in mind: utility. Creating a new design for the magazine was not about vanity and not about style, it was about usefulness. How could we improve the utility of the magazine? After 2 months of meetings, we arrived at what we hope is a more useful journal.

As you thumb through the pages, you may notice these changes. Our sections at the back of the book are a little shorter, while the features are longer. We have added a few departments: Imaging Cancer and Imaging Informatics. We will alternate our Guest Editorial with a First Person and a new Imaging Careers department, and it is my hope that more of you will share a slice of imaging life from your unique perspectives.

I would be remiss if I did not say a word about our art director. In addition to being a graphic artist, Tom is a creative artista painterand a runner. I think those avocations have contributed to a design that is clean and intuitive, one that contributes meaning to the words and eases access to the content. In addition to being an artist who is uniquely gifted at adapting a headline into an abstract image, Tom is a consummate professional who works quickly and expertly.

The last redesigned page Tom handed me was the editorial page. Brevity is not one of my virtues, and over the last 5 years, I frequently have struggled to confine my thoughts to a concise one-page format. Month after month, during the many issues we have put together, Tom invariably had to ask me to cut my editorial because it did not fit on the page. Now, after 5 years of struggling to squeeze my thoughts onto one page, Tom has raised the bar: "I'm warning you," he said. "You've got less space."

There is one thing that we did not change. Although the typeface and its placement on the cover have changed, we will continue to feature your pictures there because we could find no better way to visually embody our mission to meet the needs of you, our readers.

Cheryl Proval

Cproval@medpubs.com