The best print alumni magazines don’t just have creative, surprising editorial. (Though they do.)
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And they don’t just have beautiful, irresistible design. (Though they’ve got that, too.)

They combine the two in unexpected and delightful ways.

And there are few places that this combination can be more effective than in your feature story headlines.

Here are a few recent print alumni magazine headlines I loved, because the words and visuals work together in ways only print can pull off.
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I’ve also included a few ideas for bringing more headline creativity to your own publication.
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1. Written in Code

​I offered a handful of potential headlines for this Kenyon piece, and not all of them hit the mark. (“The new literacy”? YAWN, there is a reason that one didn’t make the cut.)

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There were actually ones I liked better than the one they ended up choosing! But that was before I saw the way that they took “Written in Code” all the way to the moon.
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Look at that first page closely, and you’ll see how designer Erin Mayes took that headline very, very literally. (Good luck incorporating such a cool idea into “The new literacy.”)

Make your headlines better: use the rule of three
​While I prefer it when the design and editorial teams work together to come up with headlines, it’s not always possible.
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At the very least, a designer should have three headline options to choose from for major features, because they may see visual possibilities in headlines you might otherwise dismiss.

2. A Day in the Life of UNL

This was a cool feature for Nebraska Quarterly.

I love how the word “life” evokes a classic digital alarm clock. It’s instantly recognizable and perfectly suited to a feature organized around a single day.

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Even better, the team carries that digital-clock visual language throughout the feature, which means the headline doesn’t feel like a one-page gimmick.
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It becomes the organizing idea for the whole package.

Make your headlines better: Go long.
​As a rule, I like headlines that are a little bit longer: Five words? Seven words? YES, ABSOLUTELY.
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Do they need to be as long as this completely off-the-wall 29-worder? They do not! (But also: there is no question that 29 words will capture your reader’s attention.)
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3. A New Way of Seeing

This headline for a profile of a photographer evokes a camera viewfinder and focusing system in the word “seeing.” A+, perfection.
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The story is about a photographer whose work reframes the way people see things around them.
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The headline literally does the same thing. Incredible!

Make your headlines better: Generate many
​Come up with LOTS of headlines (think 20 or 25, not just a couple) before you settle on one.
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Can you use AI to help? *sigh* Yeah, okay, fine.
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But think of AI as a jumping off point, not a tool that will take you from start to finish.
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The best headlines tend to come after your brain gets a little tired and starts going down less conventional paths.
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4. A Force for Good

I don’t really follow football, but even I can appreciate the route line and arrows that snake the reader through this headline for a story about an alum who’s making the game safer. And those X’s and O’s that evoke a coach’s sideline whiteboard scrawls are fantastic.

No notes, Loyola magazine!

Make your headlines better: Bring people together
​Bring your editorial team, your design team, and the cleverest people at your institution (regardless of their job) together for a headline happy hour.
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The work of building headlines together will almost certainly make them stronger.
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