As the Creative Director for the Teachers College, Columbia University alumni magazine, I was responsible for coming up with cover concepts, as well as for designing the entirety of each 60-plus page issue. Here is a sampling of the covers from some of the eight magazines I produced over four years.
The college produced several "special issue" magazines that added the challenge of distilling the essence of more than 60 pages of related material into one cover idea that both communicated the theme effectively and was visually interesting. For this special issue focusing on students, we implemented a yearbook-themed cover using a series of Olan Mills-style school portraits.
Art Direction: Deirdre Reznik; Photography: Samantha Isom.
For a special issue focused on the ways in which an institution utilizes creativity in its approach to addressing issues in education, I worked with an illustrator to produce a piece of original art for the cover. Our main inspriation was the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat, a New York City artist whose street art and neo-expressionist paintings were notable for, among other things, combining images with text. By using this style, we were able to convey the issue’s theme by alluding, in image and type, to the five topics addressed within.
Art Direction: Deirdre Reznik; Illustration: David Ort.
For this special issue on the college’s work within New York City, I worked with a photographer and student models to stage a photo shoot in the 116th Street/Columbia University subway station. I then worked with an illustrator to alter the tile subway station sign to reflect our magazine's title. Simple and subtle, I think it was one of our best covers.
Art Direction: Deirdre Reznik; Photography, Samantha Isom; Illustration, David Ort.
For this special issue focusing on international issues in education, I had the priviledge of working with TC alumnus Naif Al-Mutawa and his team of illustrators to create a themed cover for this issue featuring superheroes from Al-Mutawa's comic book series, “The 99.”
Art Direction: Deirdre Reznik; Art: Ron Wagner; Color: Steve Buccellato; Letters: Comicraft’s Albert Deschesne
In addition to the special issues, I art directed several issues of the magazines that focused on one main story as its feature, such as this issue that lead with an interview with NYC Schools Deputy Chancellor Marcia Lyles.
Art Direction: Deirdre Reznik; Photography, Ryan Brenizer.
