GRAND PRIZE WINNER
The College of Saint Rose
An in-house designer’s passion, knowledge
and purpose leads to a winning book.
Design firm: The College of Saint Rose in-house design team
About two years ago, the in-house design team
initiated a branding conversation within The College
of Saint Rose in Albany, N.Y. “This explorative process
led us to develop a key positioning statement,
five brand promises and creative strategies,” notes art
director Mark Hamilton.
“But before I could begin to design [the
College’s newest recruitment piece], I also knew I
had to prepare a budget, have printers provide dummies
and think about how it would be mailed and
disseminated. By doing not just creative design work,
but also the budget planning, proactive thinking on
production details and creative direction for design
and photography, our client gained confidence in
us not just as designers, but as problem solvers and
leaders,” says Hamilton.
The College’s tagline “Passion. Knowledge.
Purpose.” sets the stage for the book and presents
an intellectual dialogue directed at both prospective
students and their families. “Whereas most college
publications are designed as brochures, we wanted to
create a remarkable piece, which led us to design a
case-bound book,” says Hamilton. “I wasn’t content
to just create a grid for the design to follow—what
I did with the previous brochure. I wanted to make
the book feel like a journal where every page provided
a new experience to the reader.”
The 100-page journal-sized book therefore
became one which is packed with photographs and
graphic metaphors. Says Hamilton, “Although the
printer Brodock Press and I tried to think of everything
… we had to compensate for the creep of the
end leaves when they were glued to the covers and
to the first and last pages of the book.”
“From a production standpoint, the book was
a learning experience for us. It was the first time as a
designer I ever deconstructed a book to understand
how books are manufactured. With that said, the
cover of the book has a matte-black foil stamp title,
and the book itself is case bound, smyth sewn using
matching headbands and finished with red kivar
tape,” explains Hamilton.
Art director/graphic designer:
Mark Hamilton
Graphic designer/photo illustrator:
Chris Parody
Writers: Lisa Haley Thomson,
John Backman, Mark Hamilton
Project managers: Lisa Haley
Thomson, Mary Grondahl
Photographers: Greg Cherin,
Gary Gold, Chris Parody,
Mark Hamilton
Contact: www.strose.edu
