Cardinal & Cream Magazine

Publication Design

I was lead designer for Union University's biannual Cardinal & Cream magazine. I digitally illustrated the cover and interior spreads and designed interior layouts to reflect article content. My goal was to integrate typography, photography, and illustration in a cohesive and creative way. Below are the cover and front matter illustrations, as well as a few of the spreads I designed.

The cover illustration depicts the view from a dorm window, including the bell tower and a dogwood tree, both of which are beloved on campus.

The back cover includes an illustration of a few items that are seen in photos or referenced in articles throughout the magazine: a camera, books, a map, a coffee mug, and the flowers that are seen on the front cover.

For the front matter, I illustrated our staff photo to provide a transition from the illustrated cover into the rest of the magazine. The spring edition of the magazine inspired the pastel color palette, which is carried through the photos and illustrations and brought into the graphic elements.

This article discusses photography and its applications to life. I incorporated frame lines around the title and photo to represent working with cameras as well as the more abstract concept of focus presented in the title and article.

For this spread, I incorporated the article title into the photo by heavily editing it in Photoshop. This allows the image, text, and article content to be laid out in a unique way that is both cohesive and creative.

I illustrated this screenplay with a cover page showcasing the setting it describes. At our faculty sponsor's suggestion, I also illustrated the rest of the article to imitate the style of old Hollywood screenplays, adding brass tabs, coffee stains, and bent corners to bring color into the rest of the article.

This article includes an interview with a student who also works as an EMT and discusses balancing these two aspects of his life. The cutout photo of the student walking out the library door in his EMT attire represents the back-and-forth between these two aspects of his life, as well as serving to guide the reader's eye into the article content.