The American Copy Editors Society has been through many changes since its founding in 1997. Now, we're making one of the biggest ones yet – a new logo, and a new way we'll present ourselves to the public.
“We're doing so to acknowledge the changing landscape of the field of editing and our changing membership which involves editors and those who care about editing from a wide variety of roles,” said Neil Holdway, ACES executive committee member and chair of the rebranding committee.
The change comes on the heels of an extensive membership-wide survey which measured member satisfaction, organizational relevance and value to editors now and in the future.
Since 2009, ACES has experienced exponential growth of more than 300 percent with nearly 1,900 members today. And what began as an organization primarily for newspaper editors is now a hub of editors from more than a dozen industries, with the largest segment, 41 percent, being freelancers.
Last fall, ACES hired Clover Partners, based in Denver, to develop the new logo and website. Clover came up with a design that blends the new and old in the field of editing, combining editors' traditional love of proofreading marks with a sophisticated typeface that creates a modern look.
Along with the new logo comes a new tagline, "The Society for Editing," which acknowledges that many of our members have job titles that go beyond the traditional role of "copy editor." While the formal name, American Copy Editors Society, will remain, the society will identify itself publicly as ACES: The Society for Editing.
“We are keeping the best of what we are while reflecting on who we have become,” said ACES President Teresa Schmedding. The organization’s core mission, training and advocacy for editors, has not changed.
The redesigned logo was unveiled today at ACES' national conference in St. Petersburg, Florida, and the new website will go live in April. The website will be easier to navigate and use, and will include an improved job bank and directory of freelancers. It will be regularly monitored to ensure it will serve ACES members as efficiently as possible.
