"Leaders & Best is the University of Michigan’s flagship philanthropic magazine, a high-profile publication that celebrates our community’s generous spirit. The publication focuses on philanthropy, its broad impact at our university, and how donors’ generosity translates into positive change in the world beyond our three campuses. Budgetary constraints caused by the pandemic forced us to pivot from a printed magazine to a smaller print piece to drive readers to a special, digital edition of Leaders & Best. Because of this, we knew we needed to make the strongest visual impact possible.
Textile art has long been a tool for storytelling. For the Fall 2021 special edition of Leaders & Best, staff graphic designer Adam Beeman created a piece of textile art to represent the U-M community. Drawing inspiration from fiber artist Bisa Butler, different fabrics were layered and stitched together to form the final piece. We wanted the art to be conceptual and symbolic—a striking, colorful figure to represent Michigan.
While creating the piece, one question remained at the forefront: What makes up the fabric of who we are? This piece aims to answer that and tells the story of the U-M community: stories of hope, of perseverance, navigating the challenges of the pandemic, and moving forward in this new world as Michigan would. Our threads are intertwined and continue to evolve each day."
From the Judges
We were impressed by the level of creativity and execution of this cover. The art was created by in-house staff and on a budget of $32, which really demonstrates what can be achieved when creative teams are dealing with constraints.
