Art Direction & Layout Design
Star &
Lamp
Over five years, I helped shape the layout and art direction of Pi Kappa Phi’s official magazine, taking on creative-direction responsibilities in 2018.
01 / Redrawing a legacy
From layout to creative direction.
My role grew from layout design into creative direction, and I continued designing each issue.
Publication context
First published in fall 1909, Star & Lamp is Pi Kappa Phi’s official magazine. Across five years of issues, the publication developed a more flexible editorial system.
“To Connie, the rose of Pi Kappa Phi.” A tribute to the fraternity’s First Lady, from my final issue as art director.
02 / Editorial system
One publication,
many reading modes.
Feature openers, reporting, captions, and issue markers form a flexible editorial system.
"Test on 10th" balances photography, pull quotes, and dense reporting across the spread.
Design details
One spread, several editorial jobs.
- Open
- An illustrated concept establishes the subject before dense reporting.
- Navigate
- Type size, columns, pull quotes, and photography guide readers through the spread.
- Connect
- Consistent issue markers connect each story’s design to the rest of the magazine.
System relationship
From issue identity to archive
Summer 2017 favorites
Four favorite spreads from the Summer 2017 issue.
03 / Art direction in practice
Range inside
the system.
Editorial features and chapter stories from issues I art directed.
"A Common Bond": six brothers from across generations weigh in on the call to lead and the duty to serve.
Featured spreads
Representative work across reporting, information design, photography, illustration, and cover features.
"Thirty Under 30" celebrates thirty alumni redefining what it means to lead.
Stories of the men who ride, build, and serve through The Ability Experience.
Cover stories from the archive
Four more cover stories from the archive, presented chronologically.
"Woven into the lives of others" collects stories from the summer Ability Experience.
“The Challenge We Must Face” takes a hard look at the fraternity in the wake of a brother’s death.
"Throwing Bones" follows Kenny Capps as he runs the Mountains-to-Sea Trail in the face of cancer.
“Leading the Decade” marks ten years of Pi Kapp College for Emerging Leaders.
04 / Five years of issues
Read the issues.
Select a cover to read that issue on Issuu.
Awards
Fraternity Communications Association Awards
2019 · 3rd Place, Fred F. Yoder Award for Overall Excellence Pi Kappa Phi, for Star & Lamp Fraternity Communications Association 2019 Award Winners
2018 · Third Place · Fred F. Yoder Award for Overall Excellence Pi Kappa Phi, for Star & Lamp
Star & Lamp issues
Complete archive