Are you a keen student looking to gain some volunteer work experience in the magazine writing realm—or do you have a student who’s looking to get published and learn more about the world of magazines? Either way, check out Concrete Garden.
UVic’s own Concrete Garden magazine is a great student success story, evolving from a project in the Writing department’s magazine writing class to an actual hard copy mag that’s now for sale around the city. Concrete Garden focuses on sustainable urban agriculture and is currently looking for an art director, photo editor, writing editors and a photographer for the Spring 2014 issue.
All positions are unpaid, except for photographers, but do offer valuable work experience, connections to the local writing biz, and the opportunity for students to publish their work in a print publication. Students should contact editor Kimberley Veness directly with “Position” in the subject line.
Here’s a quick breakdown on the various positions available:
- Art Director – responsible for the aesthetics of the magazine, works closely with the editorial team to set editing schedules and design schedules to meet monthly production targets and ensure we meet our publication date of April, 2014. The art director will work with the photo editor and editorial team to determine which pictures (or art, comics, etc.) best suit each story, respectively, and is responsible for creating a unique design for Spring 2014 appropriate to the themes of the issue. Must show proven proficiency in Photoshop and Adobe InDesign or similar programs, and previous professional writing and editing experience considered an asset.
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Concrete Garden staff show off their magazine at Congress 2013
Photo Editor – responsible for coordinating photographers and businesses, groups, and individuals for photo shoots. The photo editor must fact check and attribute proper photo credit for all pictures in the magazine, and source additional pictures or visual media when requested by the art director or editor on chief. The photo editor should have proven previous photography or photo editor experience, be currently enrolled in photography or similar courses, or demonstrate recent or current involvement in photography groups/clubs within Victoria.
- Contributing editors – We are looking to add two skilled editors to our editorial team. Under direction from the senior editor, editors must commit to at least two rounds of reading and editing each respective article, and “workshopping” articles at weekly or biweekly editorial meetings, are required to uphold the editing schedule and finish editing articles before the editorial meeting in which they will be workshopped, and should edit articles digitally so edited material can be easily distributed to the other editors and the editor in chief. Editors must have third or fourth year standing, with a declared major or minor in journalism, technical writing, or creative nonfiction at a post secondary institution, be recent writing alumni, or show proven previous editorial experience.
Photographers – We are looking to add an additional photographer to our team. Photographers will remain easily accessible (via telephone and email) to the photo editor, art director, editorial team, and editor in chief. Photographers must be able to get to photo shoots within Victoria and surrounding communities, with the possibility of traveling to other locations around Vancouver Island. Photographers are required to shoot and upload pictures in a professional and timely manner, and work closely with the photo editor and art director. They must have own photography equipment to take on location for photo shoots. Having access to, or owning, a reliable vehicle considered an asset.
Concrete Garden is also now accepting pitches for the Spring 2014 issue. They are looking for short and long feature-length stories, but also pieces for our front and back of the book sections, which should complement the seasonal theme. As editor Veness says, “We prioritize writing students and recent graduates, but we are open to strong writers with good ideas from any background. Interested writers should review our online pitch and submission guidelines before contacting us.”
Note: all positions are volunteer and unpaid except for photographers.