AU Literary Journal

Once I got involved with AU, one of the first things I realized was that AU suffered from a lack of brand consistency/identity. Other clubs on campus had recognizable logos and styles, while AU did not. It followed, then, that one of the first things I would need to do was come up with a "look" for AU: and that meant a new logo.

For AU, I wanted to create a simple, clean logo that was flexible enough for multiple applications. It was important that the logo be recognizable, especially since each edition of AU would be fairly different from previous editions. The AU literary journal relies heavily on submissions for cover art/photography, so each cover differs from edition to edition. Having a consistent logo would allow people to identify our magazines more easily.

The simplicity of the logo is also beneficial for the same purpose. With an ever-changing cover, an adaptable logo was needed to maintain this consistency. I drew inspiration from different logos, including old favorites like National Geographic. The logo was also made to be more modern, and hopefully more competitive with other magazines sitting next to AU on the shelf.

Next are examples of the logo in action. The first two logos are set against a comet background I made for the website. The last two logos are set against arbitrary photos as examples of how the logo could be applied.

After the first issue, the logo was changed to say "at the UW" instead of the specific "Returns." Currently we use a "solid" version (in either black or white with a transparent background) or a color version, seen below. The color version's background image is also featured on the website.

This website also needed improvements when I first became a part of AU. It had to be updated in order to be more visually appealing, but also had to be easy to maintain, especially since the website would eventually be passed on to someone else. AU had opted to keep a free blog with few frills, but there were still improvements that could be made, such as including the new logo, tidying up the website's layout to be more navigable, and creating a new background image.

Flyers are distributed each quarter in order to advertise the AU journal, to advertise each new issue of AU. Flyers are usually half-page, in grayscale, and vary in style from quarter to quarter. The design is influenced by that quarter's theme, which usually decided by votes from our readers.

For the very first set of flyers, I was asked to make two versions: a light and a dark version, in order to curb printing costs. These flyers continued the sharp, more modern look that I wanted to use for the magazine.

AU publishes once each quarter, except for summer. For each magazine, I am responsible for cover layout, page layout, font scheme, and occasionally cover art if there are no suitable submissions. I also help select which submissions are included in the journal, for poetry, prose, and, of course, art and photography. Each issue is assembled by me using Adobe InDesign, though issue titles are made in Photoshop. The first issue I was involved in was Issue XVI: Returns.

AU Issue XVI: Returns was published in early December of 2016. I designed the layout of the entire booklet from cover-to-cover with a modern, clean design. I have a particular love of typography, so this was arguably one of my favorite things to design. The cover photograph was requested and provided by a fellow editor.

I was responsible for the everything in the magazine besides the actual content.