Sac State Magazine: Special Campaign Edition
Overview
The Spring 2021 edition of Sac State Magazine was a milestone publication, marking the public launch of On The Rise: The Campaign for Sacramento State—the university’s first comprehensive fundraising campaign. Designed to highlight the vital role philanthropy plays in supporting Sac State’s growth, this special edition showcased stories of impact on students, faculty, staff, and the broader community.
As the designer for this issue, I collaborated closely with University Communications and University Advancement to bring these stories to life. This partnership allowed me to integrate robust design elements that emphasized the campaign’s themes of growth, giving, and transformation.
Design Concept
The magazine design was crafted to mirror the prestige and significance of the On The Rise campaign, with every element intentionally chosen to elevate the storytelling.
Cover Design: The cover featured gold foil accents on the University logo and the special edition text, creating a bold and celebratory aesthetic. This shiny finish underscored the campaign’s success and reinforced its overarching theme of growth and achievement.
Dynamic Layouts: Each feature story inspired its own unique design treatment. For example:
The layout for the mural story incorporated painterly elements that mirrored the artistic theme, blending textures into the page design for a cohesive narrative.
Other stories utilized foreground and background interplay, with design elements interacting dynamically with text to create visual depth and maintain reader engagement.
Adaptive Storytelling: Working with the magazine’s talented writers, I developed layouts that could adapt to a variety of text block densities and narrative tones. This balance ensured that both the visuals and the writing could shine, despite the heavy textual demands of the piece.
Collaboration and Execution
This issue was produced on an accelerated timeline, requiring seamless collaboration across multiple campus partners. I worked closely with University Communications and Advancement teams to ensure that every story, from student spotlights to donor profiles, reflected the campaign’s core message of impact and transformation.
Key Challenges and Solutions:
Tight Deadlines: Despite the compressed timeline, I delivered a cohesive, visually stunning publication by staying organized, streamlining feedback loops, and focusing on high-impact design choices.
Complex Story Structures: With no consistent text length or layout demands, I tailored each design to the specific story, creating layouts that were as dynamic and varied as the content itself.
Reflection
The Spring 2021 edition of Sac State Magazine was more than just a publication; it was a celebration of the generosity and vision that will drive Sacramento State’s future. Designing this special campaign edition challenged me to push my creative boundaries, adapt to a variety of narrative structures, and deliver a polished product on a demanding schedule.
This project demonstrated my ability to collaborate across teams, concept and execute complex layouts, and infuse each story with a design that complemented its unique voice. It stands as one of my proudest achievements, capturing the spirit of giving and growth that defines Sacramento State’s mission.