The redesign and redefining of the publication that has long served as the face of Iowa’s architectural community

More than 20 years after the last facelift of Iowa Architect, the Iowa chapter of the American Institute of Architects saw a refresh of their chapter magazine as the perfect opportunity to rekindle member involvement and increase its appeal to young architects just beginning their careers. AIA Iowa partnered with Measure to fully reimagine Iowa Architect, developing a new and broader editorial direction and crafting a contemporary and functional visual system. We lead the editorial board through exercises to build a content approach that was interesting and inspiring to readers—defining and naming an entirely new collection of departments and giving broader purpose to the feature well. We also worked closely with the board and writers to define a content strategy that would guide the magazine forward. Measure built a functional visual system that increased legibility and navigation of content via hierarchy, use of space, typography and editorial tools designed to give readers access points to content while scanning pages. The design system showcases the exquisite photography of project spotlights balanced by a minimal approach to graphic detailing and beautiful compositions of typographic structure. The update has resulted in attention from the national AIA and received a great deal of regional buzz.