From the Nominator

Utah State Magazine has a small but dedicated staff consisting of two individuals who write exclusively for the magazine and a designer and photographer that is shared with the rest of the university’s marketing and communications team. We publish quarterly, but only two print issues. Over the last three years, we have gradually shifted content to include regular departments and altered the design to a more modern look. We’ve done this over time because, frankly, we could not afford to hire an outside firm and used reader surveys to guide the effort. Each issue is crafted around a central theme and often involves every college across the university. Our spring 2022 issue was titled "Tiny Things," and the stories featured showed the outsized effect tiny animals, objects, and ideas can have on people, such as the world’s deadliest animal—the mosquito. Our fall 2022 issue was titled "Land, Air, and Water" for the university’s research focus on the state’s natural resources, notably the work researchers are doing to buffer the effects of drought. Both were enormous successes. We ran out of extra copies of the spring edition after sending copies to our Advancement Office and to alumni who requested copies to send to potential donors, friends, and family. Most recently, during our annual reader survey, the fall 2022 issue was overwhelmingly named the favorite issue of the year because of the cover story describing the poor health of the state’s water resources and the USU researchers trying to do something about it.

From the Judges

The nomination uses a theme to connect different aspects of the university. The use of illustrations and font choices can really elevate a publication. The font in "Thirsty" and the illustrations in "Making Landscapes Water-Wise," suggest that a lot of thought has gone into the design of the publication. Overall, this sounds like a well-designed and engaging publication.