IMPACT MAGAZINE
MAGAZINE LAYOUT + DESIGN
Impact Magazine is the flagship alumni and stakeholder publication for the Costello College of Business at George Mason University. Over the course of four issues, I led the publication design process, creating engaging editorial layouts that elevated storytelling while maintaining consistency with university brand standards.
COLLEGE RENAMING + UNIVERSITY REBRAND
During my tenure at Costello, Impact underwent two significant institutional transformations: the renaming of the School of Business to the Costello College of Business and the university-wide rollout of George Mason University’s updated brand identity. I played a key role in translating these changes into a cohesive publication experience, ensuring the magazine reflected the college’s evolving identity while preserving a recognizable and engaging reader experience.
CHALLENGE
As the flagship publication representing the Costello College of Business, Impact Magazine serves a wide range of stakeholders, including college leadership, faculty, alumni, donors, and corporate partners. Each issue requires balancing diverse perspectives, evolving priorities, and extensive feedback while maintaining a cohesive reader experience.
With new stories, initiatives, and strategic goals introduced throughout the production process, the magazine needed to remain flexible enough to accommodate changing content and stakeholder input without sacrificing design quality, readability, or brand consistency.
SOLUTION
To support the evolving needs of the magazine, I developed a flexible editorial design system built around strong typography, grid structures, and visual hierarchy. This approach allowed the magazine to adapt quickly to content revisions, leadership feedback, and shifting priorities while maintaining a polished and consistent visual identity.
Across all four issues, I collaborated closely with the writers, magazine editor, and executive leadership to translate complex stories into engaging layouts that supported both strategic goals of the college and all reader engagement. By creating a scalable design system, the magazine was able to evolve with Costello while remaining cohesive, adaptable, and visually compelling from issue to issue.
PHOTOGRAPHY + VISUAL STORYTELLING
Photography played a critical role in shaping the visual identity and storytelling of Impact. Strong imagery helps establish an emotional connection with readers, adds authenticity to featured stories, and creates visual moments that draw audiences into the content.
In addition to leading the publication design, I photographed many of the magazine’s featured subjects, events, and campus environments. By contributing both photography and design, I was able to create a more cohesive visual narrative, ensuring imagery and layouts worked together to support the story being told. This integrated approach strengthened the overall reader experience while maintaining consistency with the university brand guidelines.
EDITORIAL + LAYOUT
Effective publication design requires more than arranging content on a page—it requires creating a visual system that guides readers through complex stories while maintaining clarity, engagement, and consistency. Throughout four issues of Impact Magazine, I developed editorial layouts that balanced storytelling, readability, and visual impact across a wide variety of content types.
Using grid systems, typography, visual hierarchy, and thoughtful pacing, I designed feature spreads, department pages, alumni profiles, and college news sections that felt cohesive while giving each story its own distinct presence. The result was a publication that supported long-form reading experiences while reinforcing the Costello College of Business brand and elevating the overall presentation of the magazine.
PRINT PRODUCTION + QUALITY CONTROL
Producing a magazine at this scale requires careful attention beyond the design phase. Throughout the development of each issue, I managed the production process to ensure files were prepared accurately for professional printing and final distribution.
This included preparing press-ready files, reviewing print specifications, evaluating proofs for color accuracy and image quality, and resolving production issues before publication. By maintaining close attention to detail throughout the print process, I helped ensure that the final magazine reflected the intended design, upheld brand standards, and delivered a polished, high-quality reader experience in both print and digital formats.