A Magazine for the Smith of Today

When the Summer issue of the Smith Quarterly arrives in mailboxes this month, readers may do a double-take. For the first time in more than 25 years, the magazine has undergone a complete redesign. Created in partnership with global design firm Pentagram, the new magazine has a more contemporary look, a bolder color palette, and new features that highlight the intellectual culture of Smith as well as the many ways its entire community—students, staff, faculty, and alums—is uplifting the liberal arts and changing the world.

“Smith, our society, and our readership have changed a great deal in the past two decades,” says Julia Yager, vice president for college relations and communications. “Our goal is to publish a magazine that reflects what Smith represents today as well as the vibrancy of our global community and their contributions to society. This redesign does just that.”

Informed largely by reader feedback and demographic shifts, the redesign brings everything that’s great about Smith to the magazine’s pages. The cover features a bold new nameplate in a bespoke typeface and a striking black-and-white portrait of inspirational Ada Comstock Scholar Aminatu Abdulai, who is leading the effort to build a new school in her home village in Ghana. Inside the Summer issue, readers will discover new sections such as “Scene,” a series of images that capture special moments on campus; “Conversations,” where Smith scholars discuss trending topics; and “Favorites,” which highlights some of the coolest new Smithie creations in film, literature, food, and beyond. And for the first time—and at the request of many readers—the Quarterly has its own Smith-themed crossword puzzle. 

In alignment with the college’s commitment to sustainability, the new Quarterly is being printed on 30% recycled paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. All of this is done in partnership with Cummings Printing in Hooksett, New Hampshire, which uses soy- and vegetable-based inks and recycles materials used in its manufacturing process.

“This redesign marks a new chapter in the Quarterly’s 115-year history,” says Christina Barber-Just, the magazine’s editor. “We consider it a gift to our readers and hope they’ll enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed creating it.”