By Christina Dimauro
Staff Reporter
Pioneer Magazine is a student-run publication at Sacred Heart University that releases two publications a year, one at the end of each semester.
The staff is currently comprised of around 15 students who work together to create every aspect of the magazine.
“It takes a lot to create a magazine that is relevant, visually appealing and interesting. The biggest thing that contributes to the success of the magazine is the staff,” said
professor Juliana Brittis, faculty advisor for the magazine.
Students work on the magazine for an entire semester, writing their own articles and creating their own layouts.
“All of the articles are written by our staff, photos and photo spreads are shot and
modeled by our staff and friends and all article layouts are staff designed,” said Brittis. “All of our students have different strengths and weaknesses so it really takes a team to help with the various aspects of the magazine’s creation.”
Students involved in Pioneer are responsible for learning how to write an article in Associated Press style, learning the basics of designs for magazines and creating layouts with Adobe InDesign.
“Pioneer is quite different from Spectrum despite the fact that we share many of the same staff members,” said Brittis.
The magazine is about a 60 page glossy spread, divided into five different sections, which can cover an array of topics.
Students brainstorm alongside Brittis at the beginning of the year for concepts and suggestions for the magazine that semester. They then start the process of working individually to create the magazine.
“My favorite part about working on the magazine is having the freedom to create the layouts ourselves,” said senior Kyle Drago. “I love being creative and working on graphic layouts and having the freedom to write our article, then being able to do the graphics for it really brings the project full circle for me.”
The editors work the most on the magazine and ensure that there is flow from one page to the next.
“It’s difficult because it’s student work, and everyone has a different style, but you want the magazine to be a cohesive unit and not something that changes from page to page,” said senior Carly Glowacky, Editor-in-Chief of the Pioneer Magazine.
Before the magazine is printed the editors and Professor Brittis work very hard to make sure that it is in perfect condition.
“We have to make sure a lot of small but critical steps are completed before the magazine goes to print,” said Glowacky. “Like making sure photos are the correct file format, the correct color space, making sure all articles are in the same typeface and point size, making sure everything fits within the margins, etc.”
This semester’s publication will be out on stands the first week of December.
“After a lot of long hours and days in the office, there is no better feeling than when the magazine is printed and out on stands. There is no better feeling than seeing my students eagerly flip through the pages of the magazine and getting to see all their hard work finally completed,” said Brittis. “I am so proud of my staff and am so lucky to work with a group of students who inspire and impress me on a daily basis.”
