“Why it won: From the business plan to the design and editorial content, this magazine successfully identifies and caters to a very specific, very difficult audience: 7- to 12-year-old girls. The students displayed an astonishing handle on their projected readership, and it showed through especially on the playful, actionable design; I especially liked the “Just for You” page of cut-and-save content. The articles are perfectly geared to That Girl!’s young readers, and the advertisements are appropriate and easily distinguishable from editorial. Promotion strategies were innovate, especially the viral marketing and online opportunities.”

Nick Fauchald, senior associate food editor at Food & Wine
AEJMC Judge: Start-Up Magazine Project—Team
First Place
That Girl! 

That Girl! magazine was the capstone project in a semester-long study in magazine management. Under the guidance of Betty Cortina (former editor of Latina magazine, O, The Oprah Magazine and People en Español), the class conceptualized and developed the magazine, complete with research and development, a business plan and a publication schedule. I was creative director for the project, and along with my classmates directed a photo shoot with several photographers working at multiple locations on a sprawling farm. The magazine won the 2008 AEJMC Student Magazine Contest for the Team Start-Up Magazine Project (read more in this article).

Assignment: Orange & Blue magazine was a semester-long assignment that involved developing a concept, content creation, art direction, design and printing of a student-produced magazine on a topic of the students’ choice. This issue’s theme was skin, and I was art director.

Assignment: Create a magazine table of contents and department page for a magazine of a classmate’s choosing. I was given the topic of bicycle lifestyle — from enthusiasts to athletes, casual riders to culture.