The UCDA Design Awards annually honor the best work in educational design—in print, digital, illustration, photography, and student competitions. These coveted awards are judged by a hand-picked panel of peer jurors composed of designers, design educators, photographers, and illustrators working in or doing a significant portion of their work for educational institutions—judges who inherently understand the higher ed environment.
In 2022, the judges found themselves wowed by the Fall 2021 cover illustration for UC Berkeley’s California magazine, deeming it worthy of a Gold Award in the Illustration—Science and Research category.
Michi Toki, design director and designer of California magazine, was kind enough to answer some questions about how this illustration came together. She also shared her thoughts on what makes a collaborative relationship work.
Tell us a little about yourself and the career path that led to where you are now.
I am the design director and designer of California magazine. Additionally, I design photography, architecture, art, and design books. At the start of my career, after working a few years for corporate clients, I realized I wanted to be involved with the arts community. I began designing invitations, brochures, and other collateral for museums, galleries, and arts organizations. I designed my first books with The Friends of Photography and later designed their photography journal See. Later, combining my love of design systems, imagery, and editorial design, I started working on California.
I live in San Francisco with my son, husband, and the memory of my dear little cat.
What was your reaction when you learned you'd received a UCDA Award?
I was thrilled! We have a very small and extremely hard-working magazine staff, so this honor was a nice bit of recognition. I was really pleased for the illustrator, Marco Wagner. He was very enthusiastic about this project.
This illustration is gorgeous! Hiring and working with an illustrator can sometimes feel intimidating. How did you choose Marco Wagner and what was the process of working with him like? Did you develop the concept together or give Marco a general direction and let him run with his imagination? What advice would you give to designers considering hiring an illustrator for the first time?
I work with many illustrators, and I love it! Our cover story was about the possibility of the de-extinction of certain animals. I wanted a somewhat vintage scientific look with a dose of surrealism. I came across Marco’s work via his agency, Jennifer Vaughn Artist Agency. His work hit exactly the tone I was looking for.
My initial direction to Marco was pretty broad. I told him I was thinking of a menagerie of extinct animals led by a passenger pigeon (the hero animal in our cover story.) I pointed to some of his existing work that I responded to—specifically how he made the surreal and eerie feel beautifully elegant. He suggested a few other extinct animals and how he was playing up the surrealism. We went back and forth just a bit, but he really nailed it. His excitement about this project really came through.
Hiring and working with illustrators should not be intimidating. The collaborative process can be really fulfilling! Hiring an illustrator through her/his/their agency might be a good way to start out. The agency will take care of the business part of the transaction, freeing up the artist to concentrate on the creative. Also, an agent can give advice about the artists and perhaps point the art director or designer to an appropriate match.
What was your timeline for this cover?
Marco had about 3 1/2 weeks for the illustration, and my design associate, Anita Wong, and I had about 5 weeks from concept to production.
As a designer who works outside of higher ed, what tips or advice would you give to in-house designers hiring an outside design firm? How can we best work together, especially on a larger project like a magazine?
An in-house staff should look for a contractor who understands the culture of the organization. Is the organization part of the university? Mar-com? Independent? The in-house staff should be clear on the objectives of the publication. Is it a booster publication or a general interest magazine? What is the readership demographic? The staff should determine the approval process, and how closely and with whom the contractor would be collaborating. Most importantly, the contractor’s role and responsibilities must be clearly defined.
Steve Jobs once said designers often feel guilty because they're not sure where creativity comes from exactly, it's just making connections between experiences. Where do you find inspiration?
I find inspiration in myriad places, constantly. Unfailingly, I am inspired by the determination, enthusiasm, and commitment of those around me.
Now for a couple of design nerd questions: What's your go-to font? Favorite Pantone color?
My go-to typeface is Akzidenz-Grotesk. Choosing a favorite color is more difficult than choosing your favorite kid. My current favorite is somewhere around PMS 315, but it changes often. My son has been my favorite kid for a while.
About UC Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant university and the first campus of the University of California system. It has a combined undergraduate and graduate enrollment of 45,307.
Katharine McCann is art director for the University of Lynchburg in Lynchburg, Virginia. She is an introvert who loves Nancy Drew, Wordle, cats, ketchup, pop culture, and trivia, and routinely goes down internet rabbit holes. She, her husband, two kids, and three cats live in Altavista (pronounced like ‘Al’ the name and ‘vista’ like VistaPrint, neither of which are the proper Spanish pronunciation), Virginia.
See all the winners at:
https://ucda.canto.com/v/2022DesignAwards
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https://www.ucda.com/designawards