A Look Back: The early years of the Kenosha Area Visitors Guide
First we needed to find a new designer
Following production of the 2023 Kenosha Area Visitors Guide, long-time designer Bob Hoot announced his retirement. Bob had been on the Kenosha project for more than 20 years – accounting for the design work of more than half the guides ever produced for our community. A request for proposal was issued early in 2023, with dozens of responses from individual designers and marketing firms around the world. It was someone much closer to home that was selected though: Janette Hill of Janette Hill Art, LLC.
Fast forward through months of selling ads, gathering content, writing articles, taking photos, designing ads/pages, proofing, and editing.
Next comes the printing process
Janette noted that the best part of being the designer of the 2024 Kenosha Area Visitors Guide was getting to experience the print process firsthand. She toured the Schumann Printers facility just outside of Madison for the printing of the cover pages in December 2023.
She shared: “I’ve worked in print design for 28 years, but I’ve never actually witnessed the production side. … People have no idea what goes into printing something like this. Embarrassingly, I told the operations manager and tour guide, that it was better than Six Flags. I was only half kidding.”
The production process was as thrilling for Janette as the delivery process is for the team at Visit Kenosha.
Finally, it’s time to receive the guides and distribute them to the public
“This was the first Kenosha guide that I have worked on since starting with the team this past summer,” said Michelle “Dora” Armour, Visitor Experience Coordinator, whose job is to help fulfill guide requests and answer questions from visitors about the Kenosha Area. “The guide is one of the main tools I use day to day in my job. Seeing the finished product get delivered after we’ve spent months to create it was really cool.”
Kenosha Area Tourism, doing business as Visit Kenosha, has published a Visitors Guide each year since 1987 except for 2021 (due to the pandemic). While each issue boasts new business information and special features, 2024 is a particularly meaningful edition with a new designer at the helm and a record-setting number of pages! Readers will find useful information such as dining guides, information about area hotels, great stories about the community, and more. The book includes over 100 long-time tourism businesses and attractions, as well as over 20 businesses that are new to our tourism partner family.
Fun Facts
- Janette designed/redesigned over 100 ads for local businesses for this issue of the Kenosha Area Visitors Guide.
- Work begins on the annual publication as early as June each year. Planning for this guide started months before that as the new designer was chosen in March.
- Guides are distributed locally, by direct mail to individuals requesting information, at welcome centers and rest stops throughout the state of Wisconsin, and in brochure racks in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
How you can get the guide
You can request a FREE copy to be mailed to you or view the digital version at VisitKenosha.com – or if you are in the Kenosha Area, pick up your own copy at one of our Visitor Information Centers or at a local business/attraction.
Happy Travel Planning!
