From the Nominator

Bennington College dared to reinvent what an alumni magazine could be in 2019, transforming Bennington from a publication that told stories to its readers to one that solicited stories from alumni by asking questions, then publishing their selected and edited responses. This past summer we asked readers, What didn’t exist before you made it? In the winter we asked, What did you once believe to be impossible that you now think is possible? We have heard from alumni of nearly all ages and backgrounds. Their responses to the questions come as essays, as Q&As, as excerpts, as portraits and paintings, as videos and songs, as one-liners, and as captioned photographs. The features are animated with a diversity of voices, points of view, and formats. Book-ending the feature well are two departments: Headliners and Notes. Headliners is dedicated to highlighting members of the Bennington community covered by major media outlets. Class Notes and Faculty Notes were collapsed into one section—Notes—now organized by content rather than constituency. Fully reimagined, Bennington has inspired unprecedented reader engagement, alumni pride, and deeper resonance with the college. By developing a new model for the alumni magazine—one that demonstrates the power of inquiry, conversation, innovation, and improvisation—Bennington reflects the college’s foundational values.

From the Judges

The bravery of Bennington’s small team in embarking on an in-house redesign after refocusing the magazine on alumni and faculty-generated content stood out to the judges. They sit firmly with their own alumni, and their interest in each other as members of the college community. Within the existing budget they produced a stylish, readable new magazine from submissions from their talented arts-based alumni. From the striking orange-lettered cover, we are led into welcomes from the president and editor in gentle restrained palette and serif font. Then come "Headliners": short reviews from the national press of alumni and faculty books, films, theatre, TV and radio, the pages brightly colour-coded according to medium and in sans serif font. The feature articles about the work of architects, designers, and artists have serif lower case titles and body text, with beautiful photographs, understated typography, and plenty of white space. Finally there’s a very large "Notes" section to share everyone’s news. The quality of the artwork and photography is clear: Bennington alumni provide an embarrassment of riches, and the design team uses them judiciously and democratically. With a $150-million fundraising campaign just over half way, the fresh, lively and cost-effective magazine is successfully designed to make alumni feel good about themselves, and engage more deeply with the college and its values.