The magazine industry’s leading international competition has recognized AramcoWorld for the 10th year in a row — this time with a total of seven editorial and design awards.
At its annual awards ceremony in New York in October, the 2017 Folio: Eddie and Ozzie Awards named AramcoWorld a winner in three categories of its Custom division — Best Newsletter, Best Website, and Best Digital Edition.
The magazine’s website has won more than 20 awards since being launched in 2004. The biweekly newsletter, launched in 2016, is the magazine’s newest digital offering, says digital media editor Johnny Hanson. “As one of our digital first initiatives, this newsletter helps us reach more people online and keep them up-to-date about what’s new at AramcoWorld,” he says.
The newsletter is distributed by email to 19,000 subscribers.
The Winners
The finalist awards were for Best Full Issue, Best Site Design, Best Series of Articles, and Best Video.
The Best Video award went to one of the magazine’s most viewed videos, “Iftar Potluck Baltimore,” which Hanson shot and produced. “It shows how our friends and neighbors all over the U.S. celebrate Ramadan through global food traditions in the melting pot of suburbs,” says Hanson. “What better way to share and learn about people and culture than through food?”
The 2016-2017 historical biography series “Malikas” (“Queens”) had already claimed three awards in other contests earlier this year, and Folio: named it among three Best Series of Articles finalists.
The six-part series, says AramcoWorld assistant editor Alva Robinson, “stands out for challenging how we have tended to look at female historical leaders.”
Written by AramcoWorld senior freelance writer Tom Verde, the series featured striking original oil paintings by artist Leonor Solans of Granada, Spain, and Arabic calligraphy headline art by Inspiral Design of London. The series’ art direction came from freelance writer and editor Ana Carreño Leyva — also based in Granada — for whom “Malikas” is a second Folio: award-winning series.
The finalist award for Best Full Issue, earned with the May/June 2016 print edition, recognizes what editor Richard Doughty calls “the best of the magazine’s signature editorial mix and visual strength.”
The issue featured a cover story on the world’s finest muslin and other features, including a retrospective of photographer Tor Eigeland’s 50-year career, the history of Islamic pharmacology, a profile of a rising Canadian novelist, and the second installment of the “Malikas” series.
A Long History of Excellence
“It’s great to be recognized by Folio: for the full package readers’ experience with our 68-year-old core product — the bimonthly print edition,” says Doughty.
Each of the Folio: contest’s more than 80 categories is peer-juried by volunteer editors, including Doughty. Each entry is judged according to how well it appears to fulfill its publication’s own mission statement. The annual contest is the largest in the magazine industry, and attracts more than 3,000 entries.
Aramco Services Company’s Public Affairs team produces AramcoWorld in print and digital editions ( www.aramcoworld.com ) to broaden knowledge of the culture, history and geography of the Arab and Islamic worlds. Subscriptions to the newsletter are available on its website.