Behind the Cover: Ytori Fall 2021 Issue
The concept drew inspiration from students' embrace of change
Ytori’s fall 2021 issue is a celebration of life’s winding roads. The stories within highlight transfer students who made it to campus to finish out their undergraduate experiences and students who took advantage of the college’s professional development initiatives to launch their careers in unexpected directions. Overall, the issue serves as a testament to those who have thrived amid the change that has enveloped our world during these tumultuous two years.
What image would best depict these unpredictable journeys on the issue’s cover? To find inspiration, editor Andrew Doerfler wandered the campus, camera in hand, capturing the artistic details of the architecture as he strolled. He came upon the sculptural wall of the Chemistry Laboratory Building, a larger-than-life installation tucked away on campus — it can only be seen while approaching the building that hosts it. The public art piece, entitled Squares on Square by Charles J. Fager, acts as a backdrop for the frequent crisscross of students as they make their way in and out of classes.
On first glance, the sculpture nearly follows a pattern, but upon further inspection, it becomes apparent that the avenues take on a random configuration. The channels serve as interfaces between the rippling of concave and convex square blocks. Viewed as a whole, the installation is a fitting abstraction of the meandering paths of life. The textured pipelines, leading to different ends, reflect the choices made by each student as they embark on their first steps on their journeys, whether navigating their college experience or voyaging into the workforce.
With the backdrop selected, Doerfler reached out to two of the students featured in the article highlighting the transfer student experience. David Ruiz Menjivar and Gretchen Overton agreed to be models for the cover photo shoot, connecting the sculpture’s thematic symbolism to their real-life UF experiences.
Current UF student and CLAS graphic designer Khary Khalfani served as the talent behind the lens. Khalfani captured Ruiz Menjivar in a moment of introspection, as he gazed outward toward his future. Overton, meanwhile, appears on the back cover, determinedly forging her own individual path (with a bicycle in tow).
Although preparing the image for the cover was relatively straightforward, deciding how to capture the feeling of a journey was not. Graphic designer Kathleen Martin experimented with various graphics, eventually deciding on a depiction of motion through abstracted lines behind Ruiz Menjivar’s feet. The graphical lines underscore the perception of motion, propelling the student forward — into an uncharted future.
