CRM Magazine: structured collaboration under tight deadlines
Case study by
Max van IJsselmuiden
Role
Project lead, stakeholder management, editorial design
Challenge
Align Marketing and Sales priorities, establish boundaries, and deliver premium quality under tight constraints
Impact
The team received praise on the premium feel and design quality and the success led Embrace to want to create a second magazine for their other product
Period
Q3 2025
When Embrace's Marketing team needed a premium magazine for their September 2025 event, they faced a problem: tight deadlines, Sales stakeholders wanting to add content, and no clear process to manage it all. The graphic designer requested support to help structure and deliver the project.
The problem
This project needed structure before it needed design. Without clear agreements, stakeholders could request changes that would derail the timeline, and the marketing designer would be stuck managing competing demands without authority to push back.
The real challenge: creating a framework where everyone understood what we were building, when it was due, and why the timeline mattered.
Approach
Stakeholder alignment meeting
A brief meeting with the main sales stakeholder and marketing team established:
- Agreed-upon content scope
- Specific deliverables
- Non-negotiable timeline with milestone dates
The goal wasn't just to inform people, it was to get explicit buy-in so that everyone owned the timeline together.
Collaboration with Marketing
The Marketing designer and design lead worked synchronously on different sections, sharing the InDesign file back and forth. Not the most efficient workflow (InDesign projects aren't frequent at Embrace), but it maintained momentum.
Backside and cover of the magazine.
In order to work efficiently, we divided tasks and kept track of progress using a shared Notion space. I was initially tasked with creating the cover, backside and two artificial intelligence articles.
Cover of the magazine.
After a quick brainstorm session we ended up using a familiar term, often used in our communication to customers: “power to the huurder”, which translates to “power to the tenant”, the main target group of our CRM software.
The cover highlights the personal touch that Embrace emphasizes
“The Netherlands chooses Embrace” visualized.
Production quality decision
During coordination with the print company, we discovered that adding pages would enable glue-edge binding instead of saddle-stitch—a small change that elevated the premium feel significantly. The adjustment was made, delivering a higher-quality product within the same budget.
In order to deliver this now more ambitious project, we had to add visuals to fill the additional pages. The visual that’s shown above shows a map of the Netherlands, where our client base is highlighted. A powerful visual showing that if you choose Embrace, you’re not alone.
Bento-grid visual highlighting the different AI features of CRM.
Impact
On-time delivery with premium results
The magazine shipped on schedule for the September 2025 event with zero compromises on quality. We had to shift the deadline after we increased the number of pages, but our initial deadline was already quite strict, so there was still plenty of room left.
Enthusiastic reception
The team received compliments from leadership and external companies on the premium feel and design quality. The success led Embrace to want to create a second magazine for their other product.
Clear process established
The stakeholder alignment approach created a reusable template for future cross-functional Marketing projects.
Another bento-style visual highlighting the native mobile application.
Reflection
What worked
Establishing shared ownership of constraints upfront. The stakeholder meeting was the foundation that enabled focused execution without conflict. Brief but frequent communication with marketing and the stakeholders (we set up a group channel in Teams) made sure that everyone could always reach anyone, and would always be up to speed.
What could improve
The InDesign workflow was functional but clunky. With more frequent projects like this, a better sync process or collaborative tools would streamline execution. InDesign allows a set-up for this, but it would need some time to dive into.
Key takeways
Design leadership often means solving the organizational problem first. By creating clarity around scope and timeline before diving into design, the team could focus on execution rather than firefighting. This is how quality gets delivered under pressure—not by working harder, but by working within a structure that protects the work.
I keep a copy of this magazine at home, and I sometimes browse through it. It’s a satisfying magazine to have in your hands. I’m proud of this project!
Did you like this post?
Want to stay tuned?
CRM Magazine: structured collaboration under tight deadlines
Case study by
Max van IJsselmuiden
Role
Project lead, stakeholder management, editorial design
Challenge
Align Marketing and Sales priorities, establish boundaries, and deliver premium quality under tight constraints
Impact
The team received praise on the premium feel and design quality and the success led Embrace to want to create a second magazine for their other product
Period
Q3 2025
When Embrace's Marketing team needed a premium magazine for their September 2025 event, they faced a problem: tight deadlines, Sales stakeholders wanting to add content, and no clear process to manage it all. The graphic designer requested support to help structure and deliver the project.
The problem
This project needed structure before it needed design. Without clear agreements, stakeholders could request changes that would derail the timeline, and the marketing designer would be stuck managing competing demands without authority to push back.
The real challenge: creating a framework where everyone understood what we were building, when it was due, and why the timeline mattered.
Approach
Stakeholder alignment meeting
A brief meeting with the main sales stakeholder and marketing team established:
- Agreed-upon content scope
- Specific deliverables
- Non-negotiable timeline with milestone dates
The goal wasn't just to inform people, it was to get explicit buy-in so that everyone owned the timeline together.
Collaboration with Marketing
The Marketing designer and design lead worked synchronously on different sections, sharing the InDesign file back and forth. Not the most efficient workflow (InDesign projects aren't frequent at Embrace), but it maintained momentum.
Backside and cover of the magazine.
In order to work efficiently, we divided tasks and kept track of progress using a shared Notion space. I was initially tasked with creating the cover, backside and two artificial intelligence articles.
Cover of the magazine.
After a quick brainstorm session we ended up using a familiar term, often used in our communication to customers: “power to the huurder”, which translates to “power to the tenant”, the main target group of our CRM software.
The cover highlights the personal touch that Embrace emphasises. On the top side, the three most intriguing articles are referenced.
“The Netherlands chooses Embrace” visualised.
Production quality decision
During coordination with the print company, we discovered that adding pages would enable glue-edge binding instead of saddle-stitch—a small change that elevated the premium feel significantly. The adjustment was made, delivering a higher-quality product within the same budget.
In order to deliver this now more ambitious project, we had to add visuals to fill the additional pages. The visual that’s shown above shows a map of the Netherlands, where our client base is highlighted. A powerful visual showing that if you choose Embrace, you’re not alone.
Bento-grid visual highlighting the different AI features of CRM.
Impact
On-time delivery with premium results
The magazine shipped on schedule for the September 2025 event with zero compromises on quality. We had to shift the deadline after we increased the number of pages, but our initial deadline was already quite strict, so there was still plenty of room left.
Enthusiastic reception
The team received compliments from leadership and external companies on the premium feel and design quality. The success led Embrace to want to create a second magazine for their other product.
Clear process established
The stakeholder alignment approach created a reusable template for future cross-functional Marketing projects.
Another bento-style visual highlighting the native mobile application.
Reflection
What worked
Establishing shared ownership of constraints upfront. The stakeholder meeting was the foundation that enabled focused execution without conflict. Brief but frequent communication with marketing and the stakeholders (we set up a group channel in Teams) made sure that everyone could always reach anyone, and would always be up to speed.
What could improve
The InDesign workflow was functional but clunky. With more frequent projects like this, a better sync process or collaborative tools would streamline execution. InDesign allows a set-up for this, but it would need some time to dive into.
Key takeways
Design leadership often means solving the organisational problem first. By creating clarity around scope and timeline before diving into design, the team could focus. This is how quality gets delivered under pressure, by working within a structure.
I keep a copy of this magazine at home, and I sometimes browse through it. It’s a satisfying magazine to have in your hands. I’m proud of this project!
Did you like this post?
Want to stay tuned?