Periodicals Publishing Improvement

Magazine Publishing Improvement (23A)

We received 48 entries in this category and whittled them down to 10. From that group, we awarded four medals. Other magazines that the judges found much improved, but did not award a medal, are Binghampton University Magazine, Berkeley Carroll Magazine, and UC–Davis College Currents.

The magazine editors that received medals for their efforts in this category made a convincing case for why they needed to undertake a redesign, what they were hoping to accomplish, and how they met their goals. The judges took very seriously the editors’ stated goals and objectives, judging them as much on how they articulated their goals and demonstrated meeting them as on how nice their magazine turned out.

When redesigning your magazine, remember: It’s not just about changing a few graphic elements. Look closely at your content, organization, departments, story selection, format, tone, and other editorial factors. Medal winners made a concerted effort to overhaul their entire magazine—they questioned their editorial approach and came up with something fresh that was then reflected in their design.

We were surprised by how many magazines merely went from two-color to four-color and called that a redesign. Too many designers brought into the “new” magazine the design and editorial elements that weren’t working in the old version.

Many editors did not follow directions when preparing their abstracts. We didn’t throw out any entries entirely, but we definitely docked points. CASE requests that you provide specific information for a very good reason. If you choose not to provide that information, we don’t have enough information to judge you fairly.

Gold Medal

Lake Forest College, Spectrum

• Spectrum made the most dramatic and successful improvements across the board in content and design. Spectrum designers did the best job of improving the magazine’s appeal through better design, much-improved fonts, and better photography (good riddance to those muddy, flat b/w photos).

Silver Medal

University of Georgia, Outreach

• Outreach was among the magazines we deemed most in need of a graphic redesign, but we also were very impressed with how much Outreach staff members improved the writing, format, and overall approach to the entire book.

Bronze Medals

Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, Minnesota State Colleges & Universities 
University of Nevada–Las Vegas, Premier

• Similarly, bronze medal winners Minnesota State Colleges & Universities and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ Premier made dramatic improvements and demonstrated clearly how they met their objectives.

Tabloid and Newsletter Publishing Improvement (23B)

We received 10 entries in this category and awarded one medal to Imperial College London’s Reporter, which showed the greatest overall improvement in both content and design. In addition, Reporter did not increase significantly in cost, so the judges were impressed by the staff’s smart use of resources. “The [redesigned] publication is more colorful, attractive, and user-friendly,” said one judge. Said another judge: “The redesign made this publication much more interesting as a whole.”

Although the judges could award only one medal in this category, other tabloids also should be praised for their successful redesign. They include: Columns from East Carolina University (“This publication’s staff obviously has its act together,” said one judge); The Record from Columbia University (“Design and content are much more fun! This publication is taking itself less seriously, which makes it more interesting”); and The Source from the University of Denver, which we liked for using resources wisely and meeting its stated objectives for the redesign.

More than half of the tabloids we judged actually changed very little. Editors entering their tabloids in this category should demonstrate significant improvements to both content and design. In fact, the judges (even the designers among us) wanted to see editorial and design working in conjunction—not independently of each other. Editors! Work closely with your design staff from the beginning to make sure that they are in the loop. Don’t just hand off a stack of mediocre photos with the final text and expect a designer to work miracles (something we suspect is happening an awful lot).

Many editors did not follow directions when preparing their abstracts. We didn’t throw out any entries entirely, but we definitely docked points. CASE requests that you provide specific information for a very good reason. If you choose not to provide that information, we don’t have enough information to judge you fairly.

Gold Medal

Imperial College London, Reporter