Design Thinking

Inspiration vs. Plagiarism
I recently read an article in an industry magazine about the process and conceptual development behind the issue’s cover. The design agency and editor shared work from other designers and labeled the work “concepts.” The final cover was virtually a direct replication...

Branding an Alumni Magazine
Target and Nike know the importance of consistent, strategic brand communications in positioning their companies apart from the competition. It is just as important that a school’s communication tells their unique story from enrollment to alumni engagement. An alumni...

Integrated Marketing
This term may be somewhat of a buzzword, like “content marketing,” but the power of an integrated marketing campaign could never be overemphasized. Audiences are interacting with messaging everywhere; browsing social media, surfing the web, reading magazines and...
Run Your In-house Group Like a Design Firm
The past few years college and university marketing teams have been impacted by budget cuts, department restructuring, layoffs, and increasing job competition. Marketing and communication offices play an important role in telling the story of their institutions. It is...

The Role of a Creative Director
A job title is like a tagline. It’s a quick way to convey what a person does and what their value is to a company. Titles not only help clarify a person’s role to an outside audience but they also help people within an organization understand roles and...

All Alumni Magazines Are Not the Same
Earlier this spring I attended the CASE Editor’s Form to present on magazine cover design. Along with the dine-arounds and peer presentations the magazine exchange is an enlightening experience. It is the one time a year where dozens of alumni magazines are together...

An Engaging Magazine Starts with the Cover
Association magazines are feeling more pressure to the mantras of digital and mobile first, which calls into question the value of producing a print magazine. Competing to gain a reader’s busy attention from numerous media channels—other magazines, newspaper,...

The Collaboration Between Editor and Art Director
In the development of a magazine there is no greater partnership than that of an editor and art director. If the word and image sing it is because the people pairing them are working together. With respect for each other’s expertise and roles different viewpoints can...