2021 HJ Catalogs

The Herff Jones scholastic catalogs are an annual project, and in 2020 I was tasked with developing more of them than ever. In addition to our typical ring catalog and two variants of senior products catalog, we were to produce a regional variant for rings as well as both a senior and junior version of an "all-inclusive" catalog. This meant that all products were combined into a sort of omnibus that featured all products available to either the senior or junior class. Some sales partners have offerings that vary by school or district, and prefer to use catalogs that exclude certain items to avoid customer confusion. In practice, this meant developing the Senior All-Inclusive Catalog first (since it contained everything), getting most everything approved and finalized, and then splitting its content out into other catalogs that contained various product lines. 

The process took about three months from start to finish, beginning in February 2020 and going to press in early May. Like most of the world, I was derailed somewhat during this project by the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic. I began working from home in mid-March, and continued to do so with scant few exceptions until September of 2022. A huge number of files needed to be resynced (the all-inclusive has around 2,000 links), design reviews were conducted via Teams, and I signed press proofs on the ottoman in my den.

Ultimately, I was very fortunate throughout the pandemic to have a team and employer that supported me, championed safety, and accommodated us all very well. And despite its challenges, the project went to press on time. 

In my third year running the catalogs, this set was the first time that I pushed the layout in new directions rather than simply updating or tweaking the previous year's. The shots of models were emphasized, jewelry collections were treated with a slightly more magazine-like style, and in general things were allowed to utilize more white space and feel more airy.