Our redesign of the alumni magazine for Loyola University Maryland involved entirely rethinking both the design and structure of the publication.
Discovery Process
To guide our planning for the redesign, we undertook a discovery process which determined key goals: to maintain the school name as the nameplate, to reinforce Loyola’s Jesuit values, and to create a design structure that is sparer and cleaner to the reader’s eye.
Visual Storytelling
Tapping into alumni appetite for nostalgia and sense of place, we built in strategic use of large campus imagery throughout each issue. “Scene” opens the magazine by highlighting exciting new building projects, such as a new green living wall. “Vintage” captures an iconic moment pulled from Loyola’s archives.
Content Organization
To simplify the overall structure, we reorganized the magazine into four main sections: Notable, Athletics, Features, and Family. The table of contents captures the editorial structure we developed and sets readers up for easy navigation. The new framework establishes a clear hierarchy, distinguishing its feature stories from the other 3 sections of the magazine.
Notable
The first section of the magazine, devoted to campus news and student and faculty profiles, consists of multiple unique departments:
Thought Leaders
Highlights Loyola faculty as thought leaders and experts in their field with a collection of large quotes that feature scholarly findings and/or interviews in regional and national media outlets.
Ask the Expert
A short Q&A with a faculty member on a contemporary topic of broad interest that is related to their academic discipline.
Faces of Loyola
Highlights a staff or faculty member whose work is making a new or indelible impact on student life or the academic experience.
Cura Personalis
Latin for “care for the whole person,” this story highlights a mentor/mentee relationship, in the lab, out in the community, or on the athletic field.
“The new magazine is out and people love it! The timing worked out perfectly and we’ve had excellent early feedback about the content and design.”
Kristen Campbell McGuire, AVP Marketing and Communications
Athletics
This section focuses on profiles of noteworthy student athletes and coaches and quick roundups of Loyola sports news.
Features
There are two feature stories in each issue to allow for breadth of coverage. One is more inward focused to the Loyola experience on campus – the first issue’s cover story features Loyola’s 25th president. The second feature is reserved for stories looking beyond campus: students or faculty working within the Baltimore community or around the world. The theme of Magis is kept top of mind, reflecting Loyola’s core mission of “striving for the greater good.”
Family
The closing section of the magazine consists of alumni profiles and class notes. Unique recurring departments include:
Bound by Hounds
Anchored by a Q&A with an alumni author, this page includes a list of recent titles by Greyhound authors.
Greyhound Guru
Here, an alum offers easily digestible chunks of wisdom from their field of expertise with a news-you-can-use focus. The first issue provides an alum’s insider chocolate chip cookie tips.
“You did a really nice job on everything. I’m looking forward to working with the template and direction you’ve established.”
Malia Leary, Director of Creative Design, Office of Marketing and Communications
The first two issues will function as a template for Loyola’s capable editorial staff who will take over design and production of subsequent issues.