Since 2015, I have had the amazing opportunity of volunteering as the publication designer for Moorpark Review, an annual literary magazine showcasing the poetry, prose, and visual art of Moorpark College. It's this project that first ignited my passion for graphic design and the project that I continue to use to train my typographic skills.
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Since 2015, I have had the amazing opportunity of volunteering as the publication designer for Moorpark Review, an annual literary magazine showcasing the poetry, prose, and visual art of Moorpark College. It's this project that first ignited my passion for graphic design and the project that I continue to use to train my typographic skills.
2019 marked the 20th anniversary of Moorpark Review. The challenge was to highlight the best work from the last 20 years while also showcasing the work from 2019. The solution was a double-sided book, with the contents of each accessible with a 180º turn. I always enjoy working with the table of contents each year. For the 2019 side, I played with the idea of shaping the entries into a wave and letting the page numbers stagger. On the 20th anniversary side, the contents doubles as a timeline.
As we all know, 2020 was a difficult year. With the pandemic, it became painfully obvious how we're all connected–how decisions cascade to effect larger and larger areas. So we started thinking about our own impact. This issue is printed on paper stocks of high PCW content. Each section ascends in page size, most evident on the table of contents spread, to create a waterfall.
When I used to design yearbooks, I enjoyed making even the page numbers feel special. In the last one I worked on, the folios turned into a flipbook animation. Since this 2021 issue was all done online for the first time, I felt bringing motion into print, which we mostly see in a digital context, was an interesting direction for this issue. The page numbers are located in a sort of carriage spanning from the gutter to the right side of the page. The whole structure moves down as you flip through it. As always I have to do something interesting with the table of contents. Keeping with the digital theme, it's an infographic. The length of the black bar on the right is proportional to the number of pages the work of that artist or author occupies.
Humanity is colorful. The arts is a way for the world to paint with its colors, each individual contributing its own shade and hue. Every book was a tapestry. It was incredible to be a part of putting the self-expression of so many students on display. I will never forget the look on their faces as they held the Review in their hands, realizing they had just been published.