Tasked with creating an annual magazine for a law school, I envisioned a piece of publication design that worked as an “annual report,” but an annual report that didn’t detail the fiscal well-being of the institution, but rather the academic life, achievements, outcomes and, most importantly, the spirit of the school. Presenting the first edition to the dean, pages laid out across the boardroom table, I ultimately described it as “an intimate portrait of a law school at work.”

We entered AMICUS into the EduAwards contest and, to be honest, other things came up and I forgot about it–the academic year is an extremely busy one. As I was wrapping up the publication of the second edition of AMICUS, I was tickled to discover that we had won a merit award in the 40th Annual Educational Advertising Awards, sneaking home ahead of some two thousand entries from more than one thousand colleges, universities, and secondary schools across all fifty states and a number of foreign countries too!

AMICUS is a unique academic publication design that details essential landmarks in the academic year: Scholarship, bar passage, employment outcomes, admissions office events and metrics for the incoming year, competition achievements, alumni and staff profiles, all framed by photographs from the year. The booklet is square, offering a break from the rectangular format of most “magazine” type layouts that this sort of marketing vehicle utilizes. It’s not exactly pocketable, nor is it light, and it’s printed on a coated paper stock just shy of what you might call “cardstock,” which gives the pages a solid ‘snap’ as they flip through your fingers. The entire production spells quality. It’s not the kind of thing you’d feel comfortable discarding after an event, which is the point. It’ll look great on an office desk or coffee table. There are numerous marketing materials in academia; most are highly disposable. The goal of AMICUS was to make sure that it wasn’t.

I was responsible for concept layout and design, photography and image editing, copy editing and a little writing as well as proofing and ushering it through final printing.

You can read it online here.