For The Shipley School, a top-flight independent school in Philadelphia where 25 percent of students are National Merit, Zehno developed a new magazine that extended the school’s branding. Designed to perform specific functions for alumni, admissions, development and parent relations, the new magazine powers the school’s communications.
Challenges
- Transform the mag from flat to fab.
- Demonstrate how Shipley’s teaching philosophy differs from other schools in the market.
- Highlight signature academic experiences that make Shipley unique.
Results
Impact for parents
Frames big-picture educational issues for Shipley parents — and prospective parents.
Key messages
Extends the school’s branding — and key messages — as a far-reaching communication tool for development, admissions, alumni and parent relations.
Awards
The magazine captured top UCDA awards for best magazine and best redesign.


What Zehno did
- Position paper: Audit and strategic recommendations.
- Prototyping: Magazine redesign, content strategy and editorial plan.
- Template preparation: Full prototype templates and content strategy.
- And more.
Tips for your team
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Use the magazine to illustrate the school’s key marketing messages. Powerful storytelling helps position your school in a crowded market.
- Explicitly ask magazine readers to spread the word about your institution’s achievements — and provide the facts for them to do so.
- Flip the structure — features at front, bits at the back — to emphasize big-picture thinking.
DOES YOUR MAGAZINE MATTER?
Next time budget slashers descend on your office, be prepared to answer what it actually accomplishes.
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