Editorial Design: Connecting Lives
Company: Calgary Humane Society
The Spring 2024 Connecting Lives newsletter highlights the Calgary Humane Society’s initiatives, impact, and progress through visually compelling storytelling.
Each department contributes content to the publication, allowing readers to see the full scope of the organization’s work. Stories ranged from Animal Behavior team’s puppy training classes to Peace Officer reports outlining statistics on surrenders, animal cruelty investigations, and community outreach efforts.
As the graphic designer, I worked closely with the Communications Manager to transform these stories into engaging layouts that informed and inspired readers. The goal was not only to communicate the organization’s impact, but also to motivate readers to support the Humane Society’s mission, whether through donations, fundraising, volunteering, or spreading awareness of programs that help create a more humane community.
Creative Direction
The newsletter was distributed to donors, sponsors, partners, board members, and the general public, making it an important communications tool for both stewardship and outreach.
The Calgary Humane Society’s brand balances two distinct visual tones: a playful, friendly style that uses curved shapes and illustrated elements, and a more refined, elevated style used for fund development and enforcement communications. The publication design thoughtfully combined both approaches depending on the subject matter.
Lighter content, such as caring for puppies or the children’s activity pages, incorporated playful layouts, illustrations, and bright visual moments that reflected the warmth of the organization. More serious topics, including community outreach, fund development, and Peace Officer reporting, followed a photography-first approach using the brand’s teal and sand palette to create a more sophisticated tone.
Empathy for Fundraising
A key objective of the design was to strengthen emotional connection and support fundraising efforts. Photography was carefully selected to feature strong eye contact between animals and the reader, helping create empathy and deeper engagement with each story.
One example of pairing emotion with data appears in the fundraising appeal titled “Your Support Matters,” which asked readers to donate to help reduce the number of homeless puppies entering the shelter. When developing the layout, I asked the team how many puppies represented the 20% statistic referenced in the article, the answer was 130 puppies.
Rather than presenting the number as text alone, I designed a full page visualizing 130 puppies took in by the humane society, representing 20.3% of the shelter’s intake over the past two years. By showing the scale visually, the design transformed an abstract statistic into an emotional, tangible moment, helping readers better understand the impact their support can make.
Cover Design
The cover was intentionally designed to resemble a retail magazine, drawing readers in with a strong, playful visual and editorial hierarchy. It represented one of the year’s most significant animal cruelty stories by using a photo of the husky, while also promoting upcoming events and recognizing sponsors. This approach encouraged readers to immediately engage with the publication and explore the stories inside.
The back cover featured the “Toebean” email newsletter campaign, a year-long initiative created to grow the organization’s email subscriber base and expand the Calgary Humane Society’s ability to connect with supporters and share ongoing impact stories.
Production
For production, I collaborated with an external print vendor to select materials that balanced cost with quality. A matte paper stock with a slightly heavier weight than a standard magazine was chosen to give the publication a more elevated feel for its donor audience, while improving readability for text and photography and remaining practical for large-scale distribution.
Impact
The magazine received enthusiastic feedback from both staff and community supporters while effectively highlighting the shelter’s measurable impact. Through compelling storytelling and thoughtful design, it strengthened donor engagement and helped support fundraising efforts while establishing a visually distinctive seasonal publication.
