Colorado State University System
09/25/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/25/2024 10:52
Congratulations to magazine designer Mary Sweitzer on her retirement
Congratulations to magazine designer Mary Sweitzer on her retirement
Photo: Mary Neiberg.
Mary Sweitzer, the beloved designer of STATE magazine, will retire on Sept. 30 after more than 10 years serving CSU and the CSU System producing high-impact communications materials. She has been a constant source of vision, talent, and witty banter.
Sweitzer began working for CSU in April 2014 as lead designer for the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, where she was central to the college's efforts to expand the quantity and quality of its communication and marketing. She helped spearhead advertising campaigns that assisted important revenue-producing units, including the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories, and Equine Reproduction Laboratory. She designed magazines, newsletters, brochures, advertisements, annual reports, recruitment materials, signs, logos, accreditation materials, and more. In most cases, she created these assets for the very first time.
In 2017, Sweitzer transitioned to the CSU President's Office as art director and designer of Colorado State Magazine, which was the university's official alumni publication. Then, in 2018, she became the founding art director and designer of STATE magazine, which launched that year. It is the magazine of the CSU System and, more recently, of CSU - now reaching more than 110,000 households of alumni, donors, friends, policymakers, and community leaders across the state. It is the institution's premier print publication, with its largest audience.
For a time, Sweitzer was art director, designer, and production director for both magazines. At the same time, she was the designated designer for the President's Office. Again, she set about redesigning - or designing for the first time - some of the university's most visible and important communication materials, bringing to them a new level of visual sophistication and professionalism. Her goal has always been to create materials befitting a top-tier research university.
In Spring 2021, Sweitzer joined the CSU System communications team and began to focus solely on STATE magazine. Her talents always stand out but were especially remarkable when the magazine team amended the size and publication cadence of STATE to demonstrate for readers how the CSU System was adapting under the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic - and, later, when the team produced two 100-page issues of STATE to herald the opening of CSU Spur in Denver. These issues led to publication of a CSU Spur book, which Sweitzer also designed.
STATE has won 18 regional, national, and international awards for writing, design, and overall quality since it launched in 2018.