OHIO student magazine wins first place in national AEJMC design competition

VIS Magazine, a student-produced publication from Ohio University’s School of Visual Communication, won first place in the design category of the 2026 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Student Magazine Contest.

The award recognized the magazine’s third issue, “The Heroes Issue.” The issue celebrates people whose work, mentorship and professional achievements have helped shape VisCom and inspire generations of visual storytellers. Among those featured are Pete Souza, professor emeritus and former chief official White House photographer for President Barack Obama, and John Grimwade, assistant professor emeritus and internationally recognized information graphics designer. The issue honors individuals whose influence extends beyond their professional accomplishments to the students, colleagues and visual communication community they have helped shape.

Students produced the issue through three School of Visual Communication courses offered each fall: Adonis Durado’s Art Direction class, Gary Kirksey’s Portraiture class and Terrance Reimer’s Business and Studio Practices class. Working across the three courses, VisCom students coordinated editorial content, photography, art direction, typography and production.

“The most rewarding part of this project was watching students move beyond designing individual pages and begin thinking like an editorial team,” Durado said. “They had to make difficult decisions about hierarchy, pacing, typography and visual consistency while responding to photographs, stories, feedback and deadlines. The award recognizes the finished magazine, but it also validates the critical thinking, creative negotiation and professional discipline students developed throughout the process.”

Kirksey said the project gave his portraiture students a practical editorial assignment. 

“This collaborative VIS Magazine assignment added an effective real-world component to the VICO Portraiture class,” he said. “Students needed to research their subjects’ backgrounds and understand why they had been selected as heroes. They rose to the challenge of working with designers, as reflected in the photographs and, ultimately, the AEJMC award.” 

Kirksey added that many students said the assignment strengthened their confidence as they prepared for careers in photography and visual communication.

Terrance Reimer, visiting professor of visual communication, said the project demonstrated the value of bringing students from different disciplines together. 

“Providing our students with collaborative experiential learning opportunities in the classroom prepares and empowers them as visual storytellers for the rest of their life,” Reimer said. “It is an extraordinary honor for our VisCom students to be awarded first place nationally with our publication of VIS Magazine.”

An Undergraduate Experiential Learning Stewardship Grant from Ohio University’s Experiential Learning program supported the project and helped provide the resources needed to publish the magazine’s third issue.

AEJMC’s Magazine Media Division sponsors the annual Student Magazine Contest, which honors excellence in student-produced magazine journalism, design and digital storytelling. The 2026 contest received 221 entries from 22 schools in 11 categories, up from 186 entries the previous year. Fifteen working journalists and media professionals judged work produced between June 2025 and June 2026. Contest organizers said the judges consistently praised the entries for their quality, passion and polish.

In the design category, VIS Magazine placed ahead of Zipped from Syracuse University, which received second place, and Vox Magazine from the University of Missouri, which placed third.

“I am so proud of our students and faculty for earning this national recognition,” said Tim Goheen, director of the School of Visual Communication. “VIS represents the best of what we do in VisCom: design and commercial photography students bringing their unique storytelling talents together to create a professional-quality magazine.” Goheen said the result showed that a program’s strength does not depend solely on its size or resources.

“It is measured by the talent of its students, the dedication of its faculty and the power of collaboration,” he said. “This is a tremendous success for VisCom, Scripps College and Ohio University, and a wonderful example of the meaningful, hands-on experiences our students receive.”

Jeff Glendenning, a faculty member in the Graphic Design MFA program at the Maryland Institute College of Art, judged the design category. Glendenning praised the entries for their energetic design, original photography, illustration and art direction. He also cited their effective use of typography and distinct visual languages to differentiate stories and sections. He described VIS as “expertly done with all the classic hallmarks of a professional publication.” He praised their departments, editorial hierarchies, branded sections and “polished grids and typography.”

The first-place finish marks an important milestone for VIS Magazine and places its third issue among work from leading journalism and communication programs across North America. The result is especially notable because Zipped, the 2026 second-place finisher, won the AEJMC design category for two consecutive years. The 2025 contest received 186 entries from 18 schools.

VIS Magazine also received six awards in this year’s Society for News Design competition. The SND Creative Competition honors excellence in visual journalism, including publication design, graphics, photography, art direction and digital storytelling. The 2026 competition evaluated work published in 2025.

The AEJMC and SND honors recognize the magazine’s cohesive visual identity and the quality of the pages its students created. The project reflects the School of Visual Communication’s emphasis on experiential learning and interdisciplinary collaboration. By producing one publication together, students negotiated creative decisions, coordinated production and applied their skills within a professional editorial workflow.

Read the full issue of VIS Magazine: https://online.fliphtml5.com/izcah/Vis-Magazine-Issue-3N/