Bennington is the first and only college in the country publishing a magazine organized around a question, asked of its readers, whose selected and edited responses compose the feature well of each issue. Bennington does not treat its alumni as passive readers, but active and engaged participants in the making and shaping of the magazine. In our redesign we have simplified our departments—stripping down a once-crowded organization to three department pillars: Headliners, Features, and Notes. This simplification of the magazine structure was developed for alumni readers in response to their organic reading patterns and driven by insights as to what draws alumni to read their institutional magazines in this way. The Bennington redesign innovates without adding budget, time, or resources; it has expanded its pages, voices, and aims even while resources have contracted. Working with these restrictions, Bennington has helped to forge a new way forward for small, mighty, courageous publications looking to put their alumni readers first, and daring enough to enter a conversation with them on the pages.
From the Judges
The concept of structuring a magazine around posing a question and then curating responses from alumni is as intriguing as it is ambitious and bold. The result, at least in the first two issues of the redesign, represents a reflection of the institution that feels very true to Bennington’s identity. Consistent construction and clean visual content. It will be interesting to follow the journey of this magazine as it unfolds.
