University Magazine
Arizona Christian University
Launch of the University’s Premiere Magazine
Project Overview
THE OPPORTUNITY
Arizona Christian University was looking to launch their first-ever university magazine in the institution’s 60 years of existence. The purpose of the magazine is to highlight and promote current events and achievements by university staff, alumni, and students. It serves as a touch-point to alumni, donors, and friends of the university.
THE HURDLE
The magazine was set to launch and be mailed out by mid-October 2020. Since this was the premiere edition of the university magazine, a production schedule needed to be created as well as a brand-new template. The October 2020 deadline had the following competing priorities:
Release of the University president’s revised book (which is part of the ACU curriculum, to be available for the Fall 2020 semester)
University Homecoming
2020 United States presidential election (mailing delays)
THE SOLUTION
A production timeline was created and adhered to by effectively communicating, prioritizing, and managing each team member’s tasks. A print vendor was also contacted at the beginning of the project to provide paper options, quotes, and a print schedule to be factored into the budget and timeline. A design template was created based off of guidance from the University president noting the likes of other university publications. It was important to understand what design elements he liked as there was limited opportunity to receive feedback.
DETAILS
Project Length: 2 months
Team: 5 people
Role: Project Manager and Graphic Designer
My Contributions:
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
VENDOR RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
RESEARCH
CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT
COLLABORATION
GRAPHIC DESIGN
PRODUCTION DESIGN
PRINT REVIEW & APPROVAL
Discover & Learn
RESEARCH PERFORMED
Prior to the layout being started, there were several items that needed to be addressed:
Schedule: A production schedule needed to be created to account for the articles, article authors, due dates, reviews, and submission to the printer.
Layout
Inspiration: Various university magazines were gathered to review article topics and current design trends (examples below).
Reference: The University president provided notes on other university publications of article topics and designs that he liked (examples below).
Printer: The University chose Courier Graphics to produce their book. I worked with Courier to understand their paper options, cost, timeline, and required specifications for print.
Strategize & Plan
PLANNING PERFORMED
Schedule
Kickoff Meeting: A kick-off meeting was scheduled to discuss the following items: budget, page count, print paper options, article topics, article authors, ideas for design and photography, and timeline.
Layout
Magazine: In addition to having hard copy reference magazines, other publications were found digitally and captured for inspiration.
Remittance Envelope: There were several hard copy reference envelopes that were used as a guide.
Printer: I worked with the printer on the quote.
Concept & Design
WORK SESSION
I built out a production schedule and explored the flatplanning process.
FEEDBACK
Feedback included the change of article topics and the order of the layout.
CONCEPT GENERATION
The colors and fonts from the University style guide were utilized in the layout. Paragraph and character styles were built within the template for body copy, drop caps, and subheadings. While all articles were deemed important, a couple of the layouts required more thought, time, and went through several rounds of revisions (examples below).
By the Numbers
This page was intended to be a vector design that communicated numbers and statistics the University wanted to highlight. The information was compiled from the previous year’s viewbook, magazine kick-off meeting, and communicating with other departments to confirm the numbers and statistics. The design went through many rounds of revisions with the first concept being designed in black and white. The second concept incorporated colors from the style guide.
FIRST ROUND CONCEPT
SECOND ROUND CONCEPT
2. Decade of Dependence
This spread’s topic showcased the University president’s tenure. It detailed the journey of the institution while under his leadership. The first concept was a one page article, which morphed into a spread for the second. Once the final copy was provided it included a timeline that was conveyed through a vector graphic.
FIRST ROUND CONCEPT
SECOND ROUND CONCEPT
3. Class Notes
This spread featured former graduates of the University. The first concept contained alumni notes and a sidebar with placeholder images and text. The second concept incorporated three recent graduates of the University that were considered, “Rising Stars”.
FIRST ROUND CONCEPT
SECOND ROUND CONCEPT
4. Front Cover
As the premiere edition of the magazine, the front cover image was to convey a sense of community and togetherness. Since the photoshoot was in the midst of COVID, we had to be mindful that the pictures were taken either with masks or with the students being an appropriate distance from each other.
CONCEPTS
Final Design
The final design included the magazine and remittance envelope (below).
WHAT WOULD I DO DIFFERENTLY?
While the team found great success with the release of the premiere edition of the magazine, there were several areas we felt that we could improve upon with the next edition:
Paper/Page Count: The paper was thick and the page count was only at 12, making the magazine appear more brochure-like.
Article Topics: The University was mentioned in almost every single article. There needed to be more diversity in the content.
Layout
Copy: The word count in the headings should be more consistent and shorter (keep to 3-5 words). Make the body copy font smaller, to allow for more words.
Grid: Recommendation to move to a grid with more columns and a larger gutter to give the layout more space and make it look more like a magazine.
Photography: Include more imagery to compliment the article topics and add captions to the bottom of the images (when necessary).
Videography: Create videos to add to the story, which can be accessible by incorporating more QR codes throughout the layout.
SPRING 2021 EDITION
The second edition of the magazine incorporated the previously mentioned feedback. It helped us to achieve an overall improved look and feel and allowed the reader to have a more interactive experience with the addition of the QR codes and video content.
