A new design that would appeal to its younger readership while not alienating its older fans was the goal behind the new look at University Affairs magazine. Editor Peggy Berkowitz says that she always knew the content of the magazine was excellent, but the look of the book needed to be updated.


Producing the magazine on better paper was one of the main goals of the redesign, says Berkowitz. Formerly printed on high quality news print, she says the inside pages are now Leipa and the cover is Supreme Silk, both FSC certified and 100 percent recycled. “People remark that we look like a real magazine now,” she says. The size of the magazine has also changed from oversized tabloid to 10 7/8" x 9".

The content of the magazine was also changed, including making the front of the book more lively and friendly. “We felt the features in the magazine have always been a strong point so there wasn’t much of a change in terms of content there,” says Berkowitz. “We wanted the news, now called Nota bene to be more accessible. It flows more now and doesn’t look so much like a newspaper.”

The magazine, which hadn’t redesigned in over 10 years worked with Toronto-based Underline Studio on the new look, says Berkowitz. It was Underline who came up with the concept of putting the French copy in a different colour to differentiate it. “We thought that idea was excellent,” she says. “We think that over a couple issues it will make it really easy for the reader to know when they are in French and when they are in English.”

University Affairs magazine is published 10 times per year by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. It has a controlled circulation of 18,000 and is available at 95 Canadian universities.