Collaboration
As part of our on-going partnership with the University of Massachusetts Amherst, we collaborated with the UMass Advancement team on the 2020 issues (Spring and Winter) of the alumni magazine. The magazine editions that came out in 2020 were not only created in a new way (from home, on screens, over video chat), they were also filled with stories that spoke to the ways the University was meeting the moment of COVID-19—keeping the spirit of campus alive in virtual classrooms, amplifying the voices of students, and providing some perspective and wisdom during moments full of uncertainty, fear, hope, and change. While this work with the UMass Advancement team is ongoing, we know that the 2020 editions of the UMass Magazine will be remembered as some of the most special in the school’s history. We were thrilled to be a part of memorializing this moment in time, and also helping to produce a magazine that included so many helpful, inspirational, and moving stories for students, faculty, staff, and alumni.
Approach
In both issues, together with the UMass team, we created custom artwork and unique layouts that brought the magazine’s stories to life. In “How to Bounce: Teaching Resilience in the Classroom,” we used layered portraits blended with calm landscapes. Conversely, in “High Energy: UMass Innovations in the World through Wind, Water, and Air,” we featured custom, uplifting illustrations of clouds and wind turbines interwoven through a dynamic layout. For the winter issue, we used bright colors and textured photo treatments to evoke a sense of optimism and energize readers. The winter cover introduced a clean, line art illustration style (similar to those found in airplane safety cards) to tie into the special editorial section, “How to Now: Life After 2020.” Within the section, we used utopian illustration concepts in a “how-to” style with archival photography. In “Zooming In: Staying In-touch via Technology,” we featured digitized Zoom video portraits and quotes from students and faculty. Additionally, the BRIGADE team created web assets for the online version of this magazine, including two features with custom artwork: ‘The Language of the Unheard’ and The Wrong Answer Project.”
This does not constitute an endorsement of any kind.
