Graphic design is a sophisticated intersection of visual artistry and targeted communication. It’s a blend of the creativity and strategy necessary to create art that communicates to your audience. While some may narrowly perceive the field as arranging photos within a document, the reality is more rigorous, involving a process of creative problem-solving. The editorial process, for instance, begins with a critical selection of photography. Working with talented photographers requires a trained eye to curate the best images, followed by extensive post-production. This entails technical refinements such as color grading, background compositing, texture retouching, and white balance adjustments—all of which serve as the baseline and are only the first step in creating an editorial spread.
Collaboration
As part of a final capstone project for my associate’s degree in Digital Arts Technology at CT State Community College, I recently completed an internship with Colabella Media, which publishes 068 Magazine. During this internship, we successfully launched 067 NexGen Magazine, a publication dedicated to highlighting local businesses while providing student designers with a platform for student designers to master real-world industry standards.
Bridging the gap between academic theory and professional practice needs more than just a syllabus; it requires a mentor. Working under Lead Designer Greg Mursko, our team, which included my colleagues Alanny Perez and Juli Weik, was immersed in the full lifecycle of both magazines. The experience helped hone our design skills under his watchful eye, as well as cultivate our excitement to show off our work. “It helped us gain more independence since we had creative freedom with our work, as well as the opportunity to learn new techniques and the inner workings of a design team,” says Weik. From the initial recruitment of writers to the final high-stakes design phases, we navigated the complexities of advertisement sales, photography, and the technical nuances of the printing press. The internship offered us new points of view on our designs. We learned how each of us works and watched the process from start to finish, uniting us and educating each other at the same time.
During our internship, we also had the privilege of working with Dee Dee Colabella, Dylan Miller, and Julia Bruce. While the leadership at Colabella Media was driven by community outreach and student mentorship, our team was motivated by the opportunity to showcase our technical proficiency and creative vision. “The process was a bit different due to how magazine printing works. I had worked with margins before, but not a gutter. Having to work around that was a good challenge,” says Perez. We learned that professional design is as much about precision as it is about art—whether that’s calibrating images for pre-press perfection or performing that vital 800th spell-check to ensure every page meets our readers’ standards. “Working with Colabella Media, I was able to gain that hands-on print and design experience and learn about the entire process of owning
a magazine,”
says Weik.
Our internship at Colabella Media provided an immersive look into the world of editorial design. The fast-paced rotation of topics offered a constant stream of creative challenges, ensuring no two projects were the same. In this environment, the designer serves as the essential “glue” that unifies months of work from various contributors.
“To me, graphic design means communicating your creativity through imagery, layout, and typography. It is a way to express feelings and turn ideas into something visually pleasing,” says Weik. With the magazines, the primary objective shifted from self-expression to highlighting the narratives of writers and photographers and integrating our own unique touches to these elements, creating a cohesive and tangible product. This experience highlighted the fundamental difference between academic or freelance work and professional editorial design: you are no longer designing for yourself, but for a team of creatives. “I had never really worked with a team on a design. Everyone at Colabella Media was welcoming, and it was great to see the process of getting the final magazine,” says Perez. •
