From the Nominator

Wake Forest Magazine’s mission is summed up by two words: “connections” and “outcomes.” Our objective is to tell the powerful stories of Wake Foresters who are doing good and doing well in the spirit of the University’s motto, Pro Humanitate.

From the Judges

This magazine, this Sibley Award Winner, has heart! It has an authentic voice from start to finish. In fact, the judges think it has everything: a clear architecture, beautiful design, excellent pacing, well-written narratives, and it's totally on brand—amplifying and projecting the values and character of its institution. The stories are human stories and "told at the correct length," including a lot of first-person voices from the wider Wake community and multi-thousand-word features displayed powerfully and beautifully over five, six, and even seven spreads. From portraiture to documentary images, the photography is superb, with the editors giving photographs the room to tell their own stories in perfect complement to the texts. You can just see the "care" that's given to every square-inch of every page. Here are some verbatim comments from the judges, as they read and took notes on this exceptional magazine: 1. That gate-fold intro to the "Community" issue is terrific. 2. I love the variety from cover to cover. All are really well-executed ideas, and all look really inviting. 3. No wild cheer leading for the school or alumni events. Communicates the feeling of a confident school, a confident magazine. 4. The design is terrific. Use of illustration is terrific. Photography is unusual and really tells a story. Visually this magazine is a knock-out. 5. I'm usually skeptical of theme issues. They can be one dimensional. But Wake seems to do them really well: taking a big topic and surprising us with an imaginative story list and varied visuals that make for an eclectic mix. In the end, the whole seems greater than the sum of its parts and befitting the breath and depth of a superb university. 6. I like the sell copy: "Workday Hustle," "District, So Dear," "So, You Want to be in the New Yorker?" The whole book feels full of life. Intellectual breadth and depth on a most human scale. 7. Clearly a magazine to be reckoned with. Rich variety of stories, professional grade throughout, captures the vibrancy of an ambitious research university page by page, imagery that takes us out into the world with the Wake Forest people it follows there.