I led the creative direction and strategic overhaul of the 2025 Year in Review — the first major Career Center publication under Fordham University’s new brand identity and the first report under the Student Success divisional model. The timing presented a genuine editorial challenge: the work being reported was completed under the previous Student Affairs framework, but the publication had to debut under a new institutional vision that was still taking shape. With a new divisional VP recently onboarded and a strategic plan still in development, I had to build a narrative framework that honored where the office had been while credibly signaling where it was going.
Reframing the Data
Rather than inheriting the data structure from the previous year, I deliberately reconceptualized how metrics were grouped and presented. Instead of reporting discrete service types (career counseling appointments, coffee chats, and mentorship sessions) as separate line items, I restructured them under unified impact categories that would be legible to audiences unfamiliar with the nuance of Career Center operations. The goal was to shift the reader’s experience from processing statistics to understanding outcomes and impact.
New Creative Concepts
The 2025 report introduced original editorial spreads that had no precedent in previous iterations. For example, a student journey spread mapped students’ engagement with the Career Center across all four years of their Fordham experience, providing a longitudinal view of the office’s impact rather than a single snapshot. Additionally, a distinct journey spread spotlighted how different student populations — creative students, business students, student athletes — interact with the office in ways unique to their paths. These concepts were my original pitches, developed to give the report character and depth, demonstrating that the Career Center’s work is as diverse as the student body it serves.
My Role
I owned creative direction, narrative structure, and graphic design end-to-end. Our data specialist provided the underlying metrics and reporting points; a senior strategist managed copy development.
Impact
The publication’s reception exceeded its immediate reporting function, becoming a model for broader institutional communications. The incoming divisional VP, navigating her own strategic onboarding as the report was being developed, later sought a consultation on adapting the format for a division-wide publication.
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