{"id":15775,"date":"2019-03-05T15:51:16","date_gmt":"2019-03-05T15:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?p=15775&post_type=story"},"modified":"2020-03-30T15:33:35","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T15:33:35","slug":"ucf-grad-contemporizes-classic-highlights-magazine","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/ucf-grad-contemporizes-classic-highlights-magazine\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Grad Contemporizes the Classic \u2018Highlights\u2019 Magazine\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spring 2019 | By Nicole Dudenhoefer \u201917<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t read the whole story, but every time I look at my couch I think, \u2018That\u2019s as big as a whale shark\u2019s mouth,\u2019 \u201d Patrick Greenish \u201902\u00a0<\/strong>says, recalling a letter a young boy sent to the Highlights <\/em>office in January 2015.<\/p>\n

The boy was referring to a bit of information he had seen on a spread in the popular monthly children\u2019s magazine, which Greenish became the design director for in April 2014. Feedback like that provides the graphic design<\/a> grad with a sense of validation and helps him maintain the perspective needed to do his job right.<\/p>\n

[photo id=”16551″ title=”highlights-Whale-Shark” alt=”” width=”100%”]The 2015 whale shark spread Greenish worked on that prompted a young boy to write in to\u00a0Highlights<\/em>.[\/photo]<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a sense of responsibility to make sure that even if a kid isn\u2019t a reader, if they\u2019re more of a visual learner, that we provide something they can take away without reading the entire piece,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

[blockquote source=”” cite=”” color=”” css_class=””]\u201cThere\u2019s a sense of responsibility to make sure … we provide something [kids] can take away without reading the entire piece.\u201d\u00a0[\/blockquote]<\/p>\n

That mindset is fitting for a publication with the tagline \u201cFun with a Purpose.\u201d As design director, Greenish is responsible for the look and feel of the entire magazine. When he joined the Highlights\u00a0<\/em>team five years ago, he brought along a wide range of expertise from working on surfing, kiteboarding, boating, women\u2019s fertility and parenting magazines. They helped him develop experience with illustration styles and working with illustrators \u2014 a signature of Highlights<\/em>\u2019 style \u2014 but he ultimately faced a learning curve.<\/p>\n

\u201cKids are still learning how to read, so we can\u2019t go to crazy with the flow of text,\u201d Greenish says. \u201cThere aren\u2019t ads in Highlights\u00a0<\/em>like adult magazines, which provide a natural break. You have to be mindful of pacing. So that\u2019s something that\u2019s challenging and limiting in your design. But that creates a new challenge of \u2018How do I make this engaging, yet super easy to follow?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Another challenge he dealt with was updating the overall design of the magazine. Highlights <\/em>has been around since 1946 and has published more than a billion copies, with a philosophy centered around packing as much as possible within its 44 pages (which is the name of a 2017 documentary that features Greenish and the Highlights\u00a0<\/em>team working on the 70th anniversary issue). Greenish felt there was a need to contemporize the magazine with white space and color, and to simplify the magazine\u2019s organization and style to appeal to today\u2019s kids.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was daunting. Here you\u2019ve got a 70-year-old brand and it needed some changes and you didn\u2019t want to break something that was beloved by many for many years,\u201d Greenish says. \u201cBut today\u2019s children\u2019s attention spans are getting a little shorter. Unfortunately, we have to design that way. We have to compete and recognize that digital space is not only changing the way adults consume information, it\u2019s changing the way kids do, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

[blockquote source=”” cite=”” color=”” css_class=””]\u201cI feel like I get to channel my inner kid every day at work. I think back to my 8-year-old self and think: \u2018Do I want to read this?\u2019 \u201d[\/blockquote]<\/p>\n

Within that redesign, Greenish discovered a favorite section of the magazine to work on: Brain Play. Before, the feature was a plain list of open-ended questions intended to spark kids\u2019 creativity. Now he rearranges the questions across the spread in fun ways, uses color and adds in silly illustrations, like the time he created an image of doughnuts on trees for a question about what foods grow on trees.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the most challenging spread to work on, but it\u2019s a chance for me to be most creative and to let kids go wild with their imagination,\u201d Greenish says. \u201cI feel like I get to channel my inner kid every day at work. I think back to my 8-year-old self and think: \u2018Do I want to read this?\u2019 or \u2018Would I want to do this puzzle?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

[photo id=”16574″ title=”highlights-brainplays” alt=”” width=”100%”]A June 2013 Brain Play spread (left( features a simpler layout before Greenish began redesigning the magazine in 2014. Greenish’s April 2018 version of Brain Play (right) uses a more dynamic design.[\/photo]<\/p>\n

Greenish\u2019s 8-year-old self actually did read Highlights<\/em>, so to work now for the magazine is a surreal experience for him. But growing up, he said he never had an interest in arts, despite his mother being an artist. It wasn\u2019t until he came to UCF that he discovered he had the talent for graphic design. He initially came to the university to study forensics science, but later realized he \u201cwasn\u2019t wired for advanced chemistry.\u201d<\/p>\n

[blockquote source=”” cite=”” color=”” css_class=””]\u201cI\u2019m exposing a lot of these kids to different art styles that they didn\u2019t even know existed. … It\u2019s a big responsibility \u2014 and I think about it every day.\u201d[\/blockquote]<\/p>\n

\u201cI visited an advisor and he asked me what was my favorite thing I worked on so far,\u201d Greenish says. \u201cIt was a paper on dogs and fire investigations that included a layout. So he suggested graphic arts. I took some drawing classes and got As, so there was a talent there I had ignored.\u201d<\/p>\n

[photo id=”16576″ title=”highlights-covers-2″ alt=”” width=”100%”]Before Greenish became design director,\u00a0Highlights<\/em>‘ covers (left) tried to pack as many images and headlines as it could. The magazine’s newer cover styles (right) offer cleaner illustrations and fewer headlines so readers are not overwhelmed.[\/photo]<\/p>\n

Although he isn\u2019t working directly with kids, Greenish is aware of the influence he may have in helping \u201cthe world\u2019s most important people\u201d discover their own talents. On his desk sits a reminder of this and a piece of inspiration. A young reader designed and mailed in her own Brain Play spread with her own original questions and illustrations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really flattering to know someone would replicate my work,\u201d Greenish says. \u201cI\u2019m exposing a lot of these kids to different art styles that they didn\u2019t even know existed and they probably don\u2019t realize it but they\u2019re taking it in subconsciously. It\u2019s a big responsibility \u2014 and I think about it every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

To learn more about <\/em>Highlights and watch the <\/em>44 Pages documentary Greenish is featured in, check out streaming services such as Hulu, Netflix and YouTube. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":15776,"template":"","categories":[],"tags":[285],"class_list":["post-15775","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-school-of-visual-arts-and-design","issues-1348","issues-spring-2019"],"yoast_head":"\nUCF Grad Contemporizes the Classic \u2018Highlights\u2019 Magazine\u2019<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As design director for Highlights magazine, Patrick Greenish \u201902 drives the look of a publication that plays an influential role for hundreds of thousands of children across the United States. 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