''Communication Arts'' (acronym: CA) is the largest international

trade journal A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular trade or industry. The collective term for this a ...

visual communication Visual communication is the use of visual elements to convey ideas and information which include (but are not limited to) signs, typography, drawing, graphic design, illustration, industrial design, advertising, animation, and electronic resourc ...

. Founded in 1959 by Richard Coyne and Robert Blanchard, the magazine's coverage includes

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...

, advertising, photography,

illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation, or visual explanation of a text, concept, or process, designed for integration in print and digitally published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vi ...

typography Typography is the art and technique of Typesetting, arranging type to make written language legibility, legible, readability, readable and beauty, appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, Point (typogra ...

and

interactive media Interactive media refers to digital experiences that dynamically respond to user input, delivering content such as Text (literary theory), text, images, animations, video, Sound, audio, and even Artificial intelligence, AI-driven interactions. O ...

. The magazine continues to be edited and published under the guidance of Coyne's son Patrick Coyne. Currently, ''Communication Arts'' publishes six issues a year and hosts six creative competitions in graphic design, advertising, photography, illustration, typography and interactive media and two

website A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, educatio ...

s, commarts.com and creativehotlist.com.

History

The magazine was established in 1959. The first issue debuted in August 1959 as the ''Journal of Commercial Art''. Among a number of innovations, it was the first U.S. magazine printed by offset lithography. After Blanchard left to go into business by himself, Coyne, along with his wife Jean and a small staff, continued to write, design, and produce the magazine. Eventually, paid circulation increased to 38,000. As of 2021, CA's paid circulation was about 21,000, down from 59,429 in 2009.

Competitions

To generate additional income and editorial content, the magazine began an annual

juried competition A juried competition is a competition in which participants' work is judged by a person or panel of persons convened specifically to judge the participants' efforts. The jury may be referred to as a competition jury or awards jury, and usually pre ...

in 1960. Within a few years, the annual competition grew, and eventually segmented into four annual competitions: graphic design, advertising, photography, and illustration. A fifth competition, interactive, was added in 1995 and since early 2011, CA also introduces a typography competition. All the Communication Arts competitions are juried by creative professionals. The judges hand out

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

s based on creativity and not ROI.

Websites

CA was the first major design publication to launch a

web presence A web presence is a location on the World Wide Web where a person, business, or some other entity is represented (see also web property and point of presence). Examples of a web presence for a person could be a personal website, a blog, a profile ...

in 1995. In addition to showcasing creative work in visual communications, it included job listings. The jobs section grew, and was relaunched in 2001 as a standalone website, ''Creative Hotlist''. These two websites receive approximately three million page views and 250,000 unique visitors per month.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://commarts.com Visual arts magazines published in the United States Bimonthly magazines published in the United States Communication design Design magazines Graphic design Magazines established in 1959 Menlo Park, California Magazines published in California