The Herff Jones scholastic catalogs are an annual project, and in 2021 I was in my fourth year running the project, once again with the need to produce 6 variants with different mixes of product. 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.
As was typical, the process took about three months from start to finish, beginning in February 2021 and going to press in early May.
2022 Senior All-Inclusive Catalog
2022 Jewelry Catalog
In 2022, we abandoned Chronicle Display as our hero typeface, instead embracing Benton Sans to create bold and attention-grabbing headlines. We kerned it very tightly, further enhancing its blocky nature ability to fit in smaller spaces.
The other major overhaul for the year was the inclusion of dozens of photos taken by high schoolers and used in their Herff Jones yearbooks. We wanted both to showcase their talents (all credited with a byline) and to emphasize the authentic experiences of students across the US.
We also made changes to the format of the catalogs in 2022, changing the covers to feature a 6-page gatefold. This necessitated outputting them as separate files for press and accounting for minor changes in page size, but the effect was well worth the effort.
Gatefold Exterior
Gatefold Interior
In many ways, I felt that this was the first year the catalogs really came into their own. The design was strong and modern, connected to its audience in a major way, and were internally consistent across a half-dozen different variants.
Note: The catalogs were for the Class of 2022, but in order to market to that class throughout the school year, they were designed and printed in the first half of 2021.
2022 Senior Catalog (With Apparel)
2022 Century & Princess Catalog
2022 Senior Catalog (Without Apparel)
2022 Junior All-Inclusive Catalog
