Maureen Pacino is executive director for Creative and Production at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. But, at heart, she is an editor posing in a designer’s cool threads. With a degree in English, a somewhat painful early career editing trade magazines and a love of long-form journalism, she decided it was time to stop staring at a blinking cursor and switch teams. Entering her third decade as a mainstay of LMU’s creative team, she has helped inaugurate three presidents; developed and administered two institutional visual identity systems; visually contributed to numerous campaigns, including two sweeping fundraising initiatives and a centennial celebration; helped establish a recent comprehensive institutional branding venture; and mentored many upstart creatives. Closest to her heart, she spearheaded the incarnation of LMU Magazine in 2009, leading to a decade of game-changing, award-winning university magazine excellence, and a lot of celebratory margaritas.
19. LMU MAGAZINE SQUARES UP TO DISRUPTION
LMU Magazine launched a decade ago with the bold assertion that a university magazine should be found everywhere and in every way its readers seek content, both electronically and in print. It also pledged to be something you might even want to read — topical, relevant and smart, and a visual feast. The magazine gained coveted autonomy and credibility, becoming a university communications and branding juggernaut, producing award-winning print issues, videos, interactive features, email newsletters, social media campaigns and podcasts. A redesign in 2019 brought its most successful year ever, earning recognition from the likes of UCDA, the Society of Publication Designers, Communication Arts and the L.A. Press Club. This past spring, LMU Magazine was unanimously named the Robert Sibley Magazine of the Year by CASE. And then came a global pandemic.
