From the Nominator

For 142 years, The University of Texas School of Law has produced many of the nation’s legal legends and business, community, and political leaders. It also has one of the largest law alumni communities among schools at 27,000. The law school, however, had difficulty connecting with its large alumni base. From 2014 to 2024 the school was without a print magazine, relying on occasional “all-alumni” emails and a dozen or so events each year. Although we began a monthly digital newsletter during the pandemic, opening rates indicated that less than 5% of alumni saw our content. We needed a vehicle literally to get content into the hands of our alumni. Print publications have a proven track record in higher education so we decided to invest in a good one. If we could convince even half of our 27,000 alumni to invest 10 to 15 minutes with our magazine, that was infinitely more engagement than our email-only approach had been able to eke out. To succeed, the new magazine needed intelligent design and compelling content to stand out from other alumni magazines that our graduates might receive from their undergraduate institutions. Working with DJ Stout and Davian-Lynn Hopkins at Pentagram Austin, the Texas Law team created a new magazine that would reflect the school's traditional strengths, but feel contemporary, fresh, and worthy of our reputation. The completely reimagined publication, Texas Law Magazine, launched in April 2024. With experienced art direction and inventive, smart layouts, the twice-yearly magazine has been very well-received by alumni.

From the Judges

We found this law magazine to be bold, engaging, and refreshingly modern—far from what is typically expected from a legal publication. The thoughtful design, clever use of legal language, and stunning photography make it appealing even to readers without a legal background. As a relaunch after 10 years, it’s a beautifully executed, alumni-focused piece that sets a high bar for both design and content.