This week I talked with Professor Daniel Weber, assistant professor in the Visual Art, Communication, and Design department at Andrews University. He is the managing editor of the Envision magazine, which releases today (April 27), and I spoke with him to learn more about the magazine’s origin, purpose, and mission.
What inspired the Department of Visual Art, Communication, and Design to start this magazine?
The magazine was started 13 years ago with the intent of creating a visual communication tool that would require our students from multiple disciplines to work together. We want it to serve as an example of creating a project in the real world; we often focus on theory and practice but actually having projects that basically represent what it's like to work in the industry is important for the students. This is now a recruitment tool for our department; when parents come through with potential students or we go on a recruiting visit to a school we pass this out and can proudly say this is 100% created by our students. We've won national awards and our issue in 2018 actually won the top student-produced publication in the entire United States. Our school beat hundreds of other schools like Harvard, Duke, Ball State, and Notre Dame due to the quality of our publication.
How did you choose the topics and stories featured for this year’s publication?
The theme for this year was transitioning. We picked this theme because it's something students can relate to as they are coming into college. You're 18 to 23 years old, and you go through major changes in your life, whether it's professionally, personally, or even theologically. I went to two different writing classes, Professor Caldwell’s Advanced Writing class and Scott Moncrieff's Writing ENGL 115 class. We pitched the concept and said, “Hey, if you're interested in writing for the publication, you'll get published if your story is chosen, and you’ll have a printed piece that you can use to promote yourself in the future.” Between both classes, we had more than 20 students agree to write. We went through the stories and selected the ones we thought worked the best. It’s important to think about the whole magazine, not just one story. We asked questions [pertaining] to content flow, whether it is interesting, and whether there are a variety of topics covered. We came up with some good stories for this publication and we're very happy with them.
What are your plans for the future of the magazine, and where do you see it going in the next few years?
I want to increase the distribution of the magazine. We want to make sure we send it to every academy in North America so that high school students are aware that our program is available.
Something else I'd like to do is grow the interdisciplinary part of the publication. This year, we worked with the English department, and I want to continue that and grow the relationship further. It ends up being good for both departments and the university as a whole. I think the more interdisciplinary stuff we can do, the better, and it will make the publication stronger overall.
What has been your proudest achievement as a magazine creator?
This is my first time working as the managing editor of this publication. Seeing the whole process come through is a proud moment. We had this concept, and I was the one that discovered the story that's on the cover, which is the main feature story. It was really cool finding that story and seeing the story being told in a really good way. It is the capstone story of the whole issue, but I was also very happy to see all the other pieces tied together and flowing nicely.
As a magazine produced primarily from a Christian background, what role does Envision play in spreading its Christian mission to audiences of all backgrounds?
I think this magazine is important because as a Christian higher ed institution, we can put something out to the broader secular world in which Christianity is often criticized. We're able to present something that shines a positive light on our university and on Christianity as a whole. Hopefully, some of the stories will make people pause and reflect on things. It’s not intentionally or overtly evangelistic; it’s the fact that it's representative of who we are as a Christian institution.
What is one piece of advice you would give to someone who is interested in creating their own magazine or media business?
It's a lot of work and it takes a good team of people. I'm blessed to work with Professor Myers and Professor Sherwin; they've been involved in almost every issue, probably every issue. I’ve seen their dedication and I can rely on them, and I know that their parts are going to be handled well. It is a blessing to see this publication come through because I know it's a benefit for our students. It's a benefit for the institution and it's ultimately a benefit for future students.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.