UMSL’s Marketing and Communications team won a CASE Best of District VI Award in the magazine design category for the Spring and Fall 2023 issues of UMSL Magazine. (Photo by Derik Holtmann)

UMSL Magazine once again scored high marks in the Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s District VI Awards competition.

The University of Missouri–St. Louis‘ biannual general interest magazine received the Best of District VI Award in the Design: Magazines & Periodicals category for the second consecutive year in a competition featuring institutions from across the Mid-America region, includes the states of Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.

“We are so pleased the Council for Advancement and Support of Education has once again honored the work of our outstanding team of designers and writers in Marketing and Communications,” said Justin Roberts, associate vice chancellor for Marketing and Communications. “Their creativity and talent are integral to showcasing stories of our exceptional students, alumni, faculty and staff both on campus and to the wider community.”

UMSL’s winning submission included issues from the spring and fall of 2023. The magazine, which counts a circulation of roughly 110,000 readers, underwent a redesign for the fall issue, timed with the celebration of the university’s 60th anniversary. The redesign features a new masthead, typography selections and a new grid system, as well as new and reconfigured pieces of content.

“We significantly overhauled the front-of-book section, featuring new faculty and student Q&As and a new letter from the chancellor with a custom illustration,” said Editor-in-Chief Heather Riske, who oversaw the redesign process along with Art Director Wendy Allison. “The alumni section now offers a fresh take on the traditional Class Notes listings by featuring new fonts and new, engaging pieces of content designed to complement the notes themselves.”

A constant across both issues was the thoughtfulness of Allison and fellow designers Marty Baragiola, Erin Hart and Evan Brandt in making aesthetic decisions that help complement and enhance the writing in each story. The custom designs help grab the attention of a broad audience that includes community partners, along with alumni, students, faculty, staff and other friends of the university.

The spring 2023 issue includes an eye-catching cover image of alum Israel Collier from retired photographer August Jennewein and features, among other things, the work of College of Education faculty members to support literacy education in schools across the St. Louis region. There’s also a spread showcasing the UMSL Succeed Program, which marked 10 years providing inclusive educational opportunities for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and another featuring dynamic alum Maria Ellis and her work conducting music education.

The redesigned fall 2023 issue takes readers through a timeline of the university’s history, beginning even before it was established in 1963, and incorporates photographs from across the past six decades. There’s also a feature highlighting the work of the Addiction Science team in combatting the overdose crisis across the state and an illustrated spread to showcase some of the student groups fostering connections across campus.