Sandscripts

Print layout (desktop publishing), photography, info-graphics, copy-editing, typography and occasional writing for a bi-annual magazine targeting alumni and donors of Monterey Bay Academy

June, 2022

Thirty-eight (38) issues* working with four editors over a 23 year period, Monterey Bay Academy's alumni magazine, Sandscripts, has become a household name among alumni and their family, donors, partnering businesses, and even other schools’ marketing and alumni/fundraising departments as to how they can effectively communicate to their stakeholders.

The magazine has seen an evolution from a single-color, newspaper-like publication to a full-color magazine; from simply communicating school news to working with a certified fundraising expert (CFRE) as the editor to detail donation goals and results, tell heartfelt stories of the benefits the school provided students in attendance, and document the history of the school's milestones.

*That Benjamin Designs has been involved with, as of this page being published.

Covers — 38 Sandscripts covers, beginning with the Fall 1998* issue. Covers marked with a diamond (a) are using either my personal photography or are commissioned work that the school requested that I photograph.

*1998 had only one issue published. Another ten (10) issues were completed via a print broker.

Back Covers — Some of the back covers have also included both personal photography and commissioned work that the school requested.

60th Anniversary Four-Page Infographic — The school celebrated its 60th anniversary by including a timeline that documented principals, historical events, opening enrollment and graduation numbers, tuition rates, and the property's prior use as a military base (Camp McQuaide).

Donation Amounts and Usage — As with all other aspects of the magazine, the financial data has improved; from simple bar, line, and pie charts to creative methods of displaying that same data, to finally a simple and straightforward documentation of how the school made use of the donated items and funding. (Top three examples have been enlarged and do not show the entire page.)

Advertising and Infographics — In the spirit of both a personal challenge and to create something eye-catching, advertising for the school's annual homecoming/reunion event has taken on a variety of forms: from simple landscape and more complex “still life” commissioned photography to computer-generated faux calendars and old-school advertising.

Info-graphics have ranged from the documentation of sponsored chairs for the school's chapel to maps showing where the elite musical groups have traveled, foreign travel paths of history/literature tours, and the path of a 49-day, 4,000-mile cancer awareness fundraising run by an alum.