Portland Spectator wins design award

Portland State’s student-run Portland Spectator won first place for Layout and Design for the 2008 – 09 school year at a national conference for college magazine editors.

“They already had great design, then they made it even better,” said Amanda Yasenchak, director of The Collegiate Network, the organization that put on the event in San Antonio, TX.

The Spectator beat out similar publications at schools like University of California-Berkeley, Brown University and Yale University at the annual event.

“I couldn’t be more proud of what our design team has done and continues to do,” said Joe Wirtheim, editor-in-chief of the Spectator.

The Portland Spectator has been an independent student publication at Portland State University since 2003.
The editorial news magazine is published once a month and is funded by student fees, advertising revenue and a grant from The Collegiate Network.

“I think design is as important to the magazine as the content,” said Spectator Art Director Laura Jones. “Good design engages the viewer whether they notice it or not; it informs the story, it provides clarity and contributes to a more captivating product.”

The Collegiate Network brought in two Spectator staffers for the conference, at which they mingled with editors from university publications across the nation and attended lectures on journalism.