QBSN Magazine

The Problem

Quinnipiac Bobcat Sports Network is a leading media organization at Quinnipiac University. With all types of media being presented from social media and broadcasting, my focus is bringing our printed and digital magazines to life with an emphasis on layout. We like to call QBSN: The Magazine our “Sports Illustrated” on campus. Our mission is to tell the stories of Quinnipiac Athletics. From players to coaches, we cover it all whether it’s through writing or design. I take my experience in typography to emphasize the stories and athletes.

The Process

I research photos that relate to the articles in the magazine. We have QBSN photographers at every home D1 game for every sport and have a drive with a collection of the photos. I go through the drive as well as the GoBobcats website to find photographs of the athletes and coaches. I also research examples of sports magazines for inspiration on the design layouts.

One decision we made from the beginning was keeping the article type the same. We chose to use Adobe Caslon Pro because it is easy to read and is great for body copy. With complete creative freedom, I get to decide the order of the articles as well as what the design of the article looks like. I decide what articles are most important and which ones we want readers to see first. Not everyone reads our entire magazine, and we want to ensure that our best stories are at the front of our magazine. I also decide what pictures would best fit the story at hand. Using context from the article I try to find pictures that best express the athlete’s true self whether it’s them celebrating or making a big play. The last big decision I have to make is what pull quotes we use for each article with interviews. Pull quotes stick out and are usually one of the first things that readers look at when turning to the page. I look through all the quotes and find one that would stick out the most and draw readers into reading the rest of the story.

These decisions were made so that the pages can look good and it’s easy to flow through and read. We want readers to stay engaged with our articles, so we try to find photos and quotes that keep these readers engaged and interested. When choosing our cover photo, we usually pick 2-3 articles that we think could be a good cover story. From there I find a photo that would be good for the cover, and we compare. This is the only iteration we make. After the magazine is done, we go through and make last-minute changes but that is it.

Our magazines include graphic pages whether it’s photo pages or stat graphics. I design a page layout that has a collage of images from our QBSN photographers. It gives another opportunity to spotlight our QBSN members as well as the athletes. I also create stat graphics for some of our articles. For certain articles about players, I create a stat graphic highlighting the player’s game and accomplishments.

The Solution

I created a 20+ page magazine design layout that highlights student-athletes and coaches. We chose this solution so we could tell the stories and hear the voices of student-athletes and coaches on campus. With so many sports and athletes coming from many different backgrounds, every athlete has a story to tell. We use the magazine to give the athletes a chance to tell their stories. With high-level media organizations like ESPN focusing on higher level, bigger name schools, QBSN gives Quinnipiac Athletics the spotlight they deserve. It gives athletes a chance to give their stories and gives our media-loving students the chance to highlight their skills.

The Impact

My work creates an impact because it highlights our students in QBSN and shows off their writing skills as well as spotlighting and highlighting the stories of athletes and coaches in Quinnipiac Athletics. While we can’t exactly measure the impact, we have heard from multiple athletes who love seeing their stories spotlighted in the magazine. We had one athlete come and pick up 40+ magazines so she could bring home and share with family and friends. Each magazine I learn and adjust more. After seeing each printed magazine, it allows me to find new ideas to better highlight the stories in the magazine. From the time I started designing magazines as a sophomore, each one has been improved. From drop caps at the beginning of articles, to the layout of images, each magazine has been improved to look better and flow better.