Utah Business Magazine

Utah Business Magazine put on a cover contest for their August 2019 Issue to promote and celebrate culture and diversity within our communities. Through research and many different concepts, I submitted the following three. Note: Utah Business Magazine did not follow through with this competition and a winner was never chosen.
Cover 1.
The small, multi-colored dots of this cover represent different diversities. While some fall into different categories or "bubbles" (as one fills out on a medical sheet or application when selecting race or gender), a bigger picture depicts a greater truth. While society may divide and separate us into specific categories, we are all human. The large circles are separate but part of the same object, showing that we all have so much in common while we may be different.
Cover 2.
This cover approaches diversity with contrast. I was thinking about light and dark as a metaphor for the contrasting variables that define diversity (white and black, gay and straight, male and female, etc.) while also defining that contrast as the balance that holds our community together. Without darkness, we wouldn't know light, and vice versa. The delicate balance these contrasts have with one another is depicted in the shadow and the light of the mountain, the split of the sun, and the fade of the sky. While these elements are separate, they work as one to maintain balance, unity, and strength.
Cover 3.
In this cover, my focus is on the common misconceptions about approaching and better understanding diversity. More often than not, when it comes to diversity, the lines are blurred, and rather than speaking about it or asking questions, we become distant and shy away. The blurred lines depict those blurred areas that we don't yet understand, often becoming an invisible roadblock in our relationships, a standstill versus a progression. While this cover specifically says "DIVERSITY,” it does so with strength, depicting the courage within our community that is vital and necessary. The texture within the letters, or rough patches, represents the multitude of efforts to ensure that Utah remains a diverse and thriving community be a part of and call home.
Austen Series
