From the Judges' Report

• Overall, this is a solid publication. Literally. The paper has a lot of heft to it and it feels like a quality publication. The 56-page perfect-bound book commands a reader's attention.
• Nobles has a strong "front of the book" section. The story length is varied (thank you!) and the designer is using photography and illustration very well here. It's also very clear to a reader when she is moving into the feature pool.
• For a story about teens and the virtual world (not surprisingly, a VERY popular topic among this group of magazines), the editor and designer used a great illustration of a group of teens sitting around a swimming pool, which is actually a phone. We liked that the story was accompanied by a sidebar that offered "tips for adults with teenagers" regarding social media use. Multiple studies have shown that readers like "news you can use" in their magazines.
• Another feature, titled "Food for Thought," was beautifully illustrated and very interesting (three profiles of alumni who work in various capacities the food industry). It featured the strongest illustrations we saw in any magazine in this group. And the stories were interesting, as well. However, the feature would have benefited from a clearer main dek and from a subdek with each of the profiles. The illustrations definitely got us to pause on the page, but we had to read quite a bit of the story to understand what it was about. Don't assume your readers will be as committed.
• "I like that there are ‘real stories' in this magazine. It has a good editorial mix."
• "The two covers we saw were almost identical-except that one featured a woman and the other featured a man. The photography style was very similar-although they used different photographers. Even the color palette was the same. If I saw this on someone's coffee table, I would think it was an Abercrombie catalog."
• "Overall, the printing quality is good. I would spend a little more time and money on color correction. Some of the fleshtones are too red."