Should there be any doubt that CASE member editorial teams are a creative bunch, just look at the 2022 Circle of Excellence Design/Cover category. It produced five gold winners, along with three silvers and a bronze. 

The Grand Gold was awarded to the cover of Leaders & Best, a philanthropy magazine produced by the University of Michigan, U.S. The cover features an image of textile art that layers and stitches fabric together to represent the university community. The editorial team’s goal was to answer the question, “What makes up the fabric of who we are?” The answer came in the layers that show “stories of hope, of perseverance, navigating the challenges of the pandemic, and moving forward in this new world as Michigan would.” 

Gold awards for “wow-factor” covers went to Johns Hopkins Magazine, from Johns Hopkins University, Maryland, U.S.; LMU, the magazine of Loyola Marymount University in California, U.S.; Auburn Research Magazine, from Auburn University in Alabama, U.S.; and Evermore, the magazine from Texas Tech University, U.S. 

The cover of LMU featured alumna Stephanie Bell, whose award-winning film, “Defending Our Crowns,” tells a story about racial discrimination against Black women based on how they wear their hair.  

Another strong woman was featured on the cover of Evermore. Illustrated in the school colors of scarlet and black, alumna and professional musician Lynda Kay appears with her guitar and a determined expression.

The cover of Auburn Research features “Bird Man” Geoffrey Hill, an ornithologist who’s an expert in analyzing and explaining bird coloration. The eerie cover mood is designed to mimic Alfred Hitchcock's movie, The Birds. 

The illustration on the Johns Hopkins cover teases the feature story “Creature Comfort” with a menagerie of camera-ready animals. 

Silver cover awards went to Utah State Magazine, U.S.; Auburn Magazine from Auburn University; and Bostonia from Boston University, Massachusetts, U.S. UNK Today, from the University of Nebraska at Kearney, U.S., received a bronze award for its magazine cover.