OVERALL DESCRIPTION
Beaver’s Digest is Orange Media Network’s lifestyle magazine. They release three publications a year across stands around Oregon State University. Being the Design Lead at OMN during the 2023-24 academic school year, I was in charge of coordinating a team of four designers, including myself, to communicate with writers and photographers, organize the contents of the magazine, and layout the design of each publication.
WHAT CHANGED?
Before my arrival as Design Lead, only one person made each publication. It was an important goal of mine to allow each designer on the team to contribute to the creation of each Beaver's Digest issue to gain experience, offer their expertise, and collaborate with the greater OMN community to create publications we were all proud of.
CLIENT
Beaver's Digest / Orange Media Network
ROLE
Design Lead
TEAM
Alex Koetje / Creative Associate
Kelly Kiel / Creative Associate
Rida Kauser / Creative Associate
Fern Barber / Creative Photographer
FALL 2023 ISSUE / SECRETS OF OSU
COVER
The cover was inspired by the classic iSpy books. I collected items of my own and reached out to dozens of coworkers who all assisted in providing random objects. In total, I photographed and digitally cut out 127 objects for the front and back covers of the magazine.
STICKERS
Along with the magazine, we also released a sticker sheet. The marketing team came to me and expressed interest in creating a game for those following the BD Instagram account. If they completed the game, they received a sticker sheet that Design Associate Alexandra Koetje created.
PROJECT PROCESS
STEP 1
I meet with the BD Editor and Photo Lead to discuss visuals, goals, deadlines, and roles.
STEP 2
Assign spreads to my team and relay notes from the editor meeting to ensure we are all on the same page.
STEP 3
Meet with the team a week after their spreads were assigned to answer questions, critique as a group, and discuss next steps.
STEP 4
Assemble pages and go over minor revisions with the BD Editor before final submission.
WINTER 2024 ISSUE / RELATIONSHIPS
COVER
Fern Barber and I set up times to meet with models to photograph them from a bird's-eye-view. This strategy allowed us to create a compelling composition while showcasing a variety of relationship types and situations.
MARKETING CAMPAIGN
To hype up the magazine, the marketing team hosted an event that matched up students who attended an on-campus dinner. I designed A-frames, 11x17 posters, and social media posts to gain the attention of participants for the event.
SPRING 2024 ISSUE / SUSTAINABILITY
COVER
With Fern Barber being the photographer and myself being the director, we landed on an image that could be seen in a positive or negative light depending on how you approach the content. Rather than using real soil, we filled the model's mouth with crushed chocolate graham crackers and placed the flowers behind his head to give the illusion that they were growing from the "soil."
