Since 1977, the National Media Awards Foundation (NMAF) has promoted and honoured excellence in journalism, writing, and visual creation in the Canadian magazine industry. “NMAF’s commitment to diversity extends to its mission of fostering a media landscape that reflects Canada’s diverse voices and perspectives. The Foundation plays an important role in professional development within the media industry, offering support and mentorship to help professionals refine their skills. The NMAF strives to be a driving force for media excellence, diversity, and talent development in Canada.”

Its National Magazine Awards (coupled with the B2B and digital publishing counterparts) represents one of Canada’s most prestigious awards in its field.

The NMAF was interested in elevating the look and feel of the Awards to encourage more engagement by potential entrants, judges, and participants in the Foundation’s programming. Because the National Magazine Awards is the most significant way people engage with the Foundation, its look and feel is an opportunity to help define the foundation as something just as design-savvy as the work it awards.

We started by identifying typography as a suitable source of inspiration as it is where the worlds of writing and design overlap.

We rediscovered a single typographic symbol that, like the awards themselves, functions as a marker of special significance: the asterisk. Together with a typeface generously provided by PangramPangram type foundry, the direction for the 2024 National Magazine Awards works to give personality and star power to the awards while keeping one referential foot in the world of typesetting and print.