Alta is proud to announce that creative director John Goecke will be given an Eddie & Ozzie Special Recognition Award for overall design excellence at Folio’s awards gala in New York City on October 24. Goecke has overseen the design of Alta’s award-winning print quarterly and website since 2017 and has also been nominated for design awards, including the prestigious Design: Independent Publishing (Cover) and Design: Celebrity/Entertainment/Sports (Feature).
“John’s highly original creative vision shines in each issue of Alta Journal,” says editorial director Blaise Zerega. “He and his team present our stories with nuance and panache to the delight of our readers, making each turn of the page an exciting, immersive experience.”
The Folio judges considered four recent issues of Alta, ranging in theme from the best bookstores in California and the West to epic tales of survival. In each of them, Goecke and his team combine illustrations, photographs, and text treatments to amplify stories for greater impact. For Issue 20’s special section devoted to The New Space Age, Goecke commissioned illustrations and infographics to bring the idea of interplanetary travel into sharper focus. Issue 22 featured a cover package about the desert, combining striking nature and portrait photography with illustrations to evoke the richness and texture of California’s harshest terrain. Online, Alta brings the same high caliber of design to the web and social media. The expanded online Bookstore Guide utilized Google Maps to create a dynamic must-bookmark compendium of the best bookstores in California and the West.
Folio’s Eddie & Ozzie Awards is one of the magazine industry’s largest contests celebrating excellence in magazine editorial and design. For more than 20 years, the Eddie & Ozzie Awards has recognized the best work across all sectors of the industry, with the Eddies honoring the best in editorial and the Ozzies the best in design. The Special Recognition Awards, which Goecke received for his work on Alta this year, acknowledge overall excellence in the winner’s body of work in the past year.•
