Studio specimen · Alumni magazine

Homecoming

December 2026

Alumni magazines have one job on the cover: make a graduate of twenty-five years ago feel the campus again before they open the envelope. That needs faces, not a building.

This specimen uses a single real convocation photograph, keeps both faces clear of type, and lets the issue's news (the Batch of 2001 reunion, 12–14 December) ride in the dark lower third.

Format: Alumni magazine
Extent: Cover

At full size

Detail of the Didot HOMECOMING masthead with the alumni magazine strap line

Detail of the Convocation 2026 kicker, the italic headline Friends for life and the standfirst

Detail of the three cover lines set on a gold rule

Decisions

A high-contrast serif, set full width
HOMECOMING runs edge to edge in Didot Bold, cream on a navy fall-off over the sky. The thin hairline and spaced strap beneath it carry the title, month and issue number without a box.
Faces stay clear
The masthead sits above the heads and the cover story sits below the chins. Nothing crosses an eye, a smile or a hand, which is where most alumni covers go wrong.
Shadow instead of a panel
The lower third falls away to near black through layered gradients and one feathered oval, so the italic headline and standfirst read cleanly with no panel or box.
Three cover lines on a gold rule
Where our graduates went, Dr Anjali Rao's scholarship, and the reunion map sit in three equal columns, gold heading over cream line. Months, not seasons: the issue is dated December 2026.

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A high-contrast serif, set full width

Faces stay clear

Shadow instead of a panel

Three cover lines on a gold rule

Tell us what you want to publish.