A professionally designed magazine has become a vital part of the communications process for universities up and down the country. Nothing quite beats that excitement when it lands on the doormat, the feeling of investment back into the alumni, or the longevity that a printed piece offers. A publication that is repeatedly picked up and read, compared to the momentary interaction of social media.
We frequently find that college magazines are actually just very long newsletters. We’ve helped multiple colleges transition these into beautiful, professionally designed magazines. We’re equally adept at creating a new publication from scratch — taking you from an idea to a finished, printed product in just a few weeks.
We have all the experience and know-how to make the process as simple as possible.
Here’s how we do it.
B&M has an enviable reputation when it comes to working with Oxford colleges. As far as we know, no other design agency has worked with as many - 23 and counting!
We still design all the usual college publications - Annual Records, Donor Reports, Legacy Brochures, Campaign Brochures - but magazines have become something of a specialism for us.
Despite designing so many, no two look the same. We create something unique for every college, ensuring it fits your specific brand, message, staff, and alumni. We take the time to understand what makes your institution unique, then tailor the design to you.
Believe it or not, switching from a newsletter-style publication to a magazine is often less work for you, not more. For a busy development or communications office, editing 50 to 60 small entries for a newsletter is far more time-consuming than managing two or three magazine articles that take up the same number of pages.
We use a proven process model that helps keep your workload to an absolute minimum. This also makes our job faster, improving efficiency and saving you money
The end result is a far superior product, delivered more quickly, with fewer proof stages, and at a competitive agency rate.
St Edmund Hall approached us to elevate the design and overall impact of The Aularian magazine, while retaining their existing A4 saddle-stitched format.
After reviewing the publication, we immediately saw an opportunity to transform it into a more engaging and visually compelling piece through format and design improvements.
We presented three distinct concepts: a refined version of the existing design (Concept 1), a complete redesign within the same A4 format (Concept 2), and a bold reimagining featuring a new size and layout (Concept 3) that would turn it into a true, premium magazine.
As per the brief, concept 1 kept the original design and format, but made some simple improvements throughout. The typography, spacing, margins and aligment were all updated so it appeared more professional.
Keeping the A4 format, we redesigned the whole magazine to create a more visually-led and engaging publication for the reader.
The content is complete unchanged from Concept 1, we simply presented the same content using more creative layouts.
For concept 3, we wanted to show how a completely new Aularian could look. New format, new paper, new binding and new design.
Again, we used the same exact content as the other concepts but showcased a completely new design throughout. Beautiful, colourful layouts with large images, pull quotes, drop caps - all the details you'd expect in a professional magazine.
After reviewing the printed mockups, the college instantly gravitated toward the third concept — a total transformation. The new Aularian now features a contemporary size, fresh typography, and a sophisticated, perfect-bound finish. The result is a sleek, professional magazine that leaves a lasting impression.
I worked with B&M at Merton College on its annual, 200+ Annual Record publication, Postmaster. I was always impressed with them and their intuitive, detail-orientated and friendly, flexible style.
When I joined St Edmund Hall and was tasked with taking on its alumni magazine, I immediately contacted B&M to see what they may be able to do.
The design of the magazine had been the same for years, and we weren’t tied to it – so I asked B&M to come up with some ideas to refresh it.
They gave us three options – one similar to the old style, one more dramatically different, and one somewhere in between. We went for the dramatic change, but it was great to be able to see the different options and B&M talked them all through with me to explain the thinking behind them.
It being the first magazine of the new design has meant playing some things by ear in terms of word count and layout etc, but B&M have been very easy to work with and offered advice and been very flexible.
Emily Bruce, St Edmund Hall
A publication that complements your brand and is creatively designed should be a given. What’s often overlooked are those little details that turn something good into something genuinely great. We apply the same professional techniques that you’d expect to see on newsstand-quality magazines:
We specialise in taking traditional college newsletters and dated publications and transforming them into beautiful, engaging magazines.
By combining modern, thoughtful layouts with impactful typography, we create publications that your alumni will genuinely want to read, keep, and display on their coffee tables.
Got a magazine, brochure, or prospectus on the horizon that needs a fresh lease of life?
Call us first.