Inside Hokie Sports Magazine

While working as an in-house designer at Virginia Tech the way our sports fans were consuming news was changing. Social media and online news platforms were becoming the prominent way fans were reading about post game results. The weekly newspaper that was sent out with game recaps was reaching fans days after they had already read about the game online. We had to rethink the newspaper platform and the type of stories we were going to write about. My team decided to switch to a monthly, high-design, magazine with in-depth athlete profiles instead of game recaps.

We had a fan based naming contest and landed on “Inside Hokie Sports” to speak to the new inside look fans would be getting on the athletes lives. I worked with the photographer and editor to plan interviews, stories, photoshoots and video discussions to post on our new magazine website. I was the lead designer on the magazine. My responsibilities included mapping out monthly content, coordinating and art directing athlete photoshoots, and design and layout of the magazine content.

The magazine was a huge success with fans and donors. The fundraising arm of the athletic department started giving the magazine away as an incentive to donate at a certain level. The department increased fundraising revenue and number of donors. While feedback from fans was reading the magazine was phenomenal.