The Alleynian is ostensibly a school magazine, but it's nothing like any magazines I remember from my school. It's a 200 page tome filled with articles and analysis from some frighteningly intelligent kids, ranging from politics to field trips to the Andes. Each one editorialised, proof-read and printed as if you'd pick it up from Waterstones.

 

I started this project after I'd finished uni and it was one I'd keep coming back to every year for a decade. It allowed me to utilise some design and layout skills that would otherwise lay dormant. I was given quite a lot of creative freedom – save for the covers, which I didn't have much say on – and as simple as it would be to replicate formats from previous issues, it was exciting to concoct different themes each year. 

​

Working with changing staff and student editors for each issue meant having to communicate design and production strategies really clearly, as the lead times were always short, articles were usually late and my full-time commitments to my actual job limited me to evenings and weekends. I'm proud to have put together so much work on my own.

​

Here are some highlights from the last three editions I designed. Click through for links to the full online versions.