STAN Magazine for California State University, Stanislaus
Overview.
California State University, Stanislaus publishes a biannual magazine showcasing student success stories, alumni achievements, and institutional impact. For years, their digital magazine lived on Issuu, a third-party platform that looked great but existed completely outside their main website.
Search engines couldn't properly index the content, users had to leave the university site to read stories, and the marketing team had no control over the experience.
Stan State partnered with ImageX to bring their flagship publication home. We migrated the magazine into their existing Drupal site, creating an integrated digital experience that feels like a dedicated publication while giving the marketing team full ownership and control.
The results transformed their digital storytelling:
- Transitioned from print to digital-first publishing model
- Eliminated dual workflow and printing costs
- Unified user experience across the main site and magazine
- Full editorial control within their Drupal CMS
- Scalable foundation for future and archived issues
This project shows how strategic technical architecture can solve critical visibility and ownership challenges while preserving the editorial quality that makes a magazine special.
What They Needed.
Invisible Content and Disconnected Experience
Stan State's digital magazine faced problems common to universities relying on external content platforms.
Because the magazine lived on Issuu, search engines weren't fully indexing articles. The valuable stories Stan State published weren't benefiting from the main csustan.edu domain authority, which limited their reach and impact.
Users browsing the university website had to navigate to an external platform to read magazine content. This created a disconnected experience that reduced engagement and made it harder for people to discover these stories.
The Issuu format didn't match the navigation, layout patterns, or design language of the main website. This inconsistency resulted in a jarring user journey where readers moved between two completely different digital experiences.
Limited Control and Flexibility
Stan State's marketing team couldn't manage or evolve the digital magazine experience within Drupal. They wanted a flexible, in-house publishing environment aligned with modern digital editorial standards.
The external platform meant they were limited in how they could:
- Present content
- Organize stories
- Adapt the experience based on what their audience needed
They sought a partner who could help them modernize their digital presence while maintaining the high-quality editorial feel of their print edition.
How We Helped.
Strategic Approach: One Platform, Multiple Experiences
Rather than building a separate Drupal installation, we enhanced Stan Stan State's existing csustan.edu website. With Drupal's Theme Switcher module, we delivered a fully custom, magazine-specific theme with its own navigation, layout components, and styling.
Everything lives within a single Drupal platform.
This approach gave Stan State a magazine that feels like its own dedicated digital publication while maintaining a unified codebase, database, and user system.
The benefits were immediate:
- Reduced long-term maintenance complexity
- Consistent site-wide performance and security
- Scalable foundation for future issues and archived content
Theme Switcher made it possible to deliver a high-impact, magazine-quality experience without introducing a second CMS or fragmenting their digital ecosystem.
Design Execution
We created a modern editorial experience that balances visual impact with readability.
We established a clear content hierarchy so readers can easily scan and navigate stories. Imagery creates visual emphasis without overwhelming the content, and the clean UI avoids clutter while maintaining editorial polish.
The magazine needed movement that matched its editorial polish. By adding subtle animations and interactions, the magazine has its own identity without breaking from the main site's brand.
Scroll-based animations reveal content progressively as readers move down the page. The magazine's homepage features a signature element where the Stan State logo shrinks into place as you scroll, creating a polished, modern feel. And custom carousel components support intuitive mobile touch interactions, ensuring the experience works naturally across devices.
Collaborative Discovery Process
We partnered closely with Stan State’s marketing team during discovery to align on both vision and execution. Our creative director conducted in-depth research across leading digital magazines and presented those findings to the client as a shared point of reference.
Together, we evaluated specific design patterns, editorial layouts, and interaction models. We discussed what worked, what didn’t, and why.
This collaborative review informed a unified design direction, drawing visual cues from multiple sources while staying grounded in Stan State’s goals, content strategy, and editorial workflow. The result was a clear, intentional foundation that supported immediate launch needs and a long-term vision for digital storytelling.
Words from the client.
Thank you for the beautifully designed site and beautifully executed development. It really makes Stan State shine, and it's all thanks to your hard and super creative work! It doesn't feel like we lost something; instead, it feels like we just moved into the 21st century. Boy, is it a beautiful magazine!
- Mandeep Khaira, Director of Marketing and Digital Strategy
The Results.
From Print to Digital-First Publishing
The new digital magazine fundamentally changed how Stan State publishes their flagship publication. What started as a supplement to their print magazine became their primary publication, eliminating the need for print production entirely.
The marketing team no longer manages dual workflows for print and digital versions, saving significant time and resources. Production costs dropped as printing expenses disappeared from the budget.
The digital-first approach also gives Stan State flexibility they never had with print. They can update content, add stories between issues, and respond to timely campus events without waiting for the next print cycle.
Unified User Experience
Readers can now explore magazine stories without leaving the main university website. The integrated experience means prospective students, alumni, and community members discover Stan State stories naturally while browsing other university content.
The consistent navigation and design language create a seamless experience. Users don't feel like they're jumping to a separate platform because the magazine lives within the same ecosystem as the rest of the university site.
Magazine content now benefits from being part of the main csustan.edu domain. Search engines can properly index articles, making it easier for people to find Stan State's stories when searching for topics the university covers.
Long-Term Control and Flexibility
The new digital magazine gives Stan State's marketing team complete editorial control within their Drupal CMS. They can publish new issues, update content, and evolve the experience based on reader feedback without depending on external platforms or technical support.
The architecture we built provides a scalable foundation for future issues and archived content. The team can continue publishing new magazine editions with the same high-quality experience, and they have the flexibility to migrate older issues from Issuu when ready.
As Stan State continues evolving their digital presence, the magazine platform grows with them. They own the experience, control the technology, and can adapt as their storytelling needs change.
