From the Judges' Report

• New Trail combines energetic design, creative photography, in-depth stories, and some fun features. The result of a recent redesign, this package is the editors' response to shortened attention spans in an age of fragmented media consumption. Responding to this new reality seemed to be a common theme among entries. New Trail tackled the challenge well.
• One issue was devoted to climate change, introducing the topic with a handsome, all-blue cover with a lonely polar bear and the headline, "Move, adapt or die." That grabbed the judges' attention. What followed was a package of stories that used the university's location and strengths but was not weighed down by being overly institutional. "I give them props for being edgy and brave and inspiring," noted one judge.
• The other issue lightened the mood. A profile of the noted writer and emeritus Alberta professor Rudy Wiebe was marked up with annotations from the professor himself. (Judges lamented that the handwriting in the layout was not in fact Wiebe's, although the words were his; we did, however, understand the technical constraints preventing the designers from using Wiebe's actual handwritten annotations.) The editors took a creative risk by including a pull-out "Choose Your Own Adventure" booklet to highlight the services of the university's career center. The booklet was was well executed but, according to one judge, bordered on the gimmicky. The editors kept the mood light even in the books section, using a photo of an alumnus standing at a urinal to accompany a Q&A about his humorous book on men's health.
• We give demerits, however, for a long section of alumni award winners. We know this is one of those features that can be difficult if not impossible for editors to avoid, but it was a complete break in mood from the rest of the magazine, and the treatment--a lackluster series of headshots and short profiles--could have been executed in a more interesting way. Nevertheless, we forgave it in awarding New Trail a bronze.