Wednesday, July 07, 2010

And the winner is… Sombrilla

Second in a Series on Award Winning Programs from the 2010 PRSA Del Oro Awards
Award Recipient of El Bronce Award of Excellence (2010) – Publications

Sombrilla is the official magazine of The University of Texas at San Antonio. It is published by UTSA’s Office of University Communications and is mailed without charge three times each year to more than 60,000 UTSA alumni, donors, lawmakers and friends of the university. Through carefully crafted storytelling, Sombrilla aims to keep its readers connected and informed.

The key to Sombrilla lies in its execution.

Naturally, UTSA’s publications team conducts a significant amount of research and extensively plans each issue. However, Sombrilla doesn’t come to life until its stories and images are paired in a beautiful design that invites the reader to learn more about the university.

Sombrilla seeks high standards of reporting, writing, editing, photography and graphic design, resulting in a publication that is attractive, substantial and engaging. Each 9” x 12” issue of Sombrilla boasts 36-pages and four-color processing.

Captivating stories with a welcoming tone invite readers to become reacquainted with UTSA.

Gorgeous photos, illustrations and designs take readers into university research laboratories, into classrooms and into the homes of the people whose lives have been permanently changed by their connection with UTSA. Historical images from the university’s archives are also a common component of each issue, reminding readers of the university’s steady growth toward Tier One.

“Whenever someone asks me what my goals for the magazine were, I’d say I wanted people to read it,” says Rebecca Luther, former editor of Sombrilla. “They’d usually scoff and say there must be something more to it, and there is. But it all starts with getting people to read it and if the magazine is no good, they won’t.”

View Sombrilla online.

By Christi Fish, a PRSA San Antonio Board Member and a Public Affairs Specialist at The University of Texas at San Antonio

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