Houghton Magazine Redesign, 2009

Thirteen years ago, I was fresh on the job at Houghton College, as their new lead designer. Having just relocated my young family from suburban DC, I was adapting pleasantly to zero traffic and the beautiful scenery of western New York.

One of my first projects was to design a reboot of the alumni magazine, then known as “The Milieu.” My start date was October 1st. The new magazine needed to be designed, printed and in mailboxes by Thanksgiving. A daunting task for a designer who was brand new, to a brand-new team, for an institution steeped in tradition and averse to change.

Without much time to explore multiple design styles, I leaned into my default style: minimalism. Wide margins. Lots of white space. No ornamentation. Bold, full-bleed photography.

An unusual 9.5x11 trim size was chosen to help this publication stand out in the mail. An uncoated paper stock was chosen to subtly represent the natural, down-to-earth environment found on campus and surrounding area.

The magazine was changing names to simply “Houghton,” (The Milieu had earned the nickname “The Mildew” in some circles, adding fuel to the need for a reboot.) and getting a new editorial format. The content was designed so that gist of each story would come through by visuals or by the text, no matter how long the reader spent with the magazine.

First issue’s “controversial” cover. Also the first and only issue to feature a full-bleed masthead.

Against the clock, our team finished the magazine on schedule, and it looked great. But as they began arriving in mailboxes, a bit of controversy stirred among the alumni. “Why new format?” “Why the name change?” “Where are the ‘warm and fuzzies?’” “Why is there all this artistic blank space?” “Why not use a campus photo on the cover? “Why are the articles so short?” and so on.

We received an equal amount of praise for the new magazine as well, but criticisms are harder to forget. You can’t please everyone. I knew we had produced a good product, and a few disappointed responses wouldn’t change that. But I also knew we could make it even better in the next issue by taking to heart some of the more constructive criticisms.

The first issue was a learning process. I learned a lot about producing a rebranded publication, but I learned even more about the nuances of a small Christian college with a fiercely loyal alumni community.

While there are things I would change about the design if I had to do it again, I consider the outcome a success. This process cemented a design style that would last more than a decade and continues in some form today, long after my time at Houghton ended.