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Challenge:
We needed to envision, design and launch a new magazine that would replace a tabloid alumni mailing, and raise the profile of UTSC with both our internal audience and the broader community. Incorporating research stories, alumni profiles and campus news, it would circulate to approximately 31,000 alumni and friends, reintroducing UTSC as the intellectual and cultural hub of the eastern GTA, and one of the most prestigious universities in the world.
— Andrew Westoll UTSC
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Process:
An intense series of workshops engaged the many stakeholders at the university: administration, faculty, alumni and students. Once we understood their collective vision for UTSC, we were able to suggest the right strategy and aesthetic for the magazine. A sense of visual gravitas was needed to affirm UTSC’s market position and ground the variety of academic and human interest pieces. And the process continues; as creative partners, our collaboration—and especially our disagreements—make each issue better.
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Outcome:
The feedback on UTSC Commons has been overwhelmingly positive. Our broader community has really adopted it as a source of pride. I routinely hear from people throughout U of T and beyond who want to know who designed our magazine, which means people are responding to our product and perhaps rejigging their impression of UTSC. That's the goal, to reinvent UTSC in the minds of our community, and this magazine goes a long way towards that.
— Andrew Westoll UTSC
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Scope of Work:
Strategy; magazine nameplate, design and production; ongoing art direction.
All too often, good designers don’t know how to use language, and good wordsmiths don’t get look and feel. H&W does both.
— Andrew Westoll UTSC