USC Viterbi Magazine wins the CASE Grand Gold Award (Image/Courtesy of CASE)
In a reflection of its quality, USC Viterbi Magazine just received three Circle of Excellence CASE Awards, including a Grand Gold, the most international CASE awards in the publication’s history. “This is a huge team win,” said Adam Smith, USC Viterbi’s chief creative content officer and editor of USC Viterbi Magazine.
The Council for Advancement and Support of Education, or CASE, is a worldwide nonprofit association committed to educational advancement professionals. The organization is dedicated to those “who share the goal of championing education to transform lives and society,” according to the organization’s website.
Michael Chung, associate dean for USC Viterbi’s Office of Communications and Marketing, said the writers, designers, artists and videographers who work on the print and digital editions of USC Viterbi Magazine are among the most innovative found anywhere.
“I marvel daily at the quality, talent and standards of excellence our colleagues demonstrate,” he said. “And working with colleagues of such distinction and high standards just naturally elevates everyone.”
Added Marc Ballon, USC Viterbi’s senior writer and managing editor of USC Viterbi Magazine: “I am absolutely thrilled that we won these CASE awards. It’s truly a privilege to work with such creative, committed and accomplished people.”
The fall 2021 issue, called “Welcome to the Viterbi Multiverse,” landed the top prize for the best single issue / special edition magazine.
“The color, design imagery, and storytelling of this issue were mind blowing,” the CASE judges wrote. “This issue worked well on every level and is deserving of the highest honor in the sector.”
In addition to the grand gold award, USC Viterbi’s “Into the Multiverse” themed issue won a bronze award for its design. The judges said it was “one of the most creative entries” that they received. They also highlighted the design of the cover and back of the magazine, as well as the art for a story titled “Infinite Versions of Us.”
Accompanying the digital magazine was an animated short film titled “More Than Words,” which took home a bronze CASE award. The film ran with a story about Ph.D. candidate Jacqueline “Lina” Brixey and her research using an AI chatbot to promote Choctaw language learning and preservation.
“It feels great to win the award. Working as a team to create the animation, we wanted Lina’s story to spotlight just how technology not only represents the future, but how that technology can be used to save and to document our rich cultural history,” said Dennis Lee, USC Viterbi’s video producer.
“As for the audience,” he added, “we felt it was important to use animation as the mode of storytelling to reach and inspire our youngest audience, to perhaps spark in them the possibilities of pursuing a STEM based career.”
Lee collaborated with Madelin Lum, USC Viterbi art director on the video. USC Viterbi writer Caitlin Dawson wrote the story that ran with the video.
Over the past decade, USC Viterbi’s Marketing and Communications team has won numerous CASE awards, including regional CASE Gold Awards in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2019; and two national Silver Awards in 2013 and 2021.
Smith, the magazine editor, said he was proud of USC Viterbi’s most recent CASE performance.
“This team is arguably the best, most talented I’ve ever worked with,” he said. “It’s amazing what you can accomplish with that as your starting point.”
Published on July 12th, 2022
Last updated on July 12th, 2022
