Project

Our readers run the gamut in just about every demographic you can imagine: from 18 years old to 109 years old, every state in the country, every ethnic background you can think of, just to name a few. So how do you create a publication that appeals to everyone? We had compelling stories, but the message wasn’t arriving. Stories were too long. Pages lacked hierarchy and logical entry points. It felt more like a newsletter, and not the flagship publication of a top-tier research institution.
The University of Utah’s alumni magazine hadn’t undergone a serious refresh for years and it needed some help.
First, we needed to create a new identity for the magazine. Changing our name from Continuum magazine to the University of Utah Magazine allowed us to create a new masthead with a theme that would carry throughout the publication. The lowercase “u” on our cover became a theme for what we call “Silos”. These silos include a full-page photo or image and no more than 250 words (and most often even fewer).
The silos include things like “Ask”, our version of a Q&A, and “Voices”, a way to include quotes from the many fantastic speakers who come to campus without having to write a full news story for each. These silos give us flexibility to tell stories in a visually appealing way that have become some of our most-viewed on our site.
But these silos are just peppered in throughout the magazine. And we needed to refresh the entire thing—from soup to nuts. So we redesigned our news section—giving each page a hierarchy with multiple entry points. We upped our illustration budget and try to pay attention to each individual article. We added an athletics section with a highlight of a student athlete in each issue. And redesigned class notes and tapped into nostalgia with a throw-back page we call “Reflect.” In a nod to the Utah phenotype that loves the great outdoors, we begin each issue with a two-page spread that is a stunning photo of Utah’s outdoors that somehow relates to the U.
We believe we captured the spirit of our school and created a publication that our faculty, staff, students, donors, and alum can be proud of.

Client

Team