Despite all outward appearances of living lives of grandeur, often our job is simply to make something as straightforward, functional, and readable as possible. Of course we still strive to make the best looking product we can, and work within the established style guide. Such is the case with the 2026 Editor's Choice Awards issue for The Absolute Sound, which is published twice a year. It's twice a year because of the variety of categories in high-end audio, and the sheer volume of reviews that the editorial staff of TAS put together each year. The list has to have a simple navigation - tabs indicating the categories on each page, and clearly indicated pricing categories. We do everything possible to include at least one product image per page, and also have to include fractional ads in among the copy - which is almost always on the left hand opposite a right hand full page ad.

We have a few simple rules for the copy, among them that top or bottom of columns must have at least two lines of copy from the beginning or ending of the current review, so that we don't have awkward hanging lines.

We also create the annual award logo, which is distributed to advertisers for use in their print and digital advertisements. This is consistent from year to year, barring a few minor edits and updates.

This is all done in addition to the regular front and back of book department pages, and the cover story.

Obviously, this is a massive undertaking every time for all staff, including the ad sales department, and is a hugely popular issue with advertisers - it's on newsstands for over four months.