Teens from 2020 don’t care about a college from 1776. Probs.

Hampden-Sydney College’s motto is “forming good men and good citizens”—a noble cause, yet not exactly Tik Tok material. So they reached out to Familiar Creatures to help them connect with a modern male audience who might not be intrigued by their hallowed hallowedness.

Out with the viewbook. In with the new...
magazine.

For decades, H-SC did what any school would do, send out old-fashioned college viewbooks to espouse the values and offerings of their college. And that worked when your parents went to school, but now there’s the internet and memes and stuff. H-SC wanted to switch it up with something fresher and more frequent. Something like a magazine that came out once a quarter like a magalog.

So what did we name it?

THE SWAGALOG.

To bring the zine to life, we combined 1950s-inspired design elements with pithy headlines, cheeky ads, and colorful spreads— completely overhauling the look, tone, and feel of the lookbook. That’s what you gotta do if you wanna challenge category conventions.

Yes, the campus is beautiful, but check out this octopus.

We wanted to ensure that 17-year-olds would actually open the Swagalog. So, we collaborated with illustrators to develop a cover so enticing, and unusual, that one mere glance of it would cause anyone to say “What the heck did I just get in the mail?” Hence: a confident man riding a shark whilst shaving. Or a man carving a tiger out of stone. Or a tiger jumping out of a helicopter. But it isn’t simply what’s on the cover that makes it a bold contrast to other higher-ed publications. It’s also what’s not—the school’s insignia. Pretty much the exact opposite instinct of any higher-ed institution.

Be the Man, Man.

In creating the Swagalog, we’ve constantly found areas to improve the experience. One such area is in the ads. Yes, the Swagalog has ads. They’re for various happenings and programs at H-SC. And it occurred to us one day that going to H-SC doesn’t just make you a man, but the man, and the man has special talents, skills, and attributes that are worth advertising.

The World Wide Web: The only logical next step

What happens when you’ve scoured every article and laughed at every headline in the Swagalog? You find more on the internet, more specifically on the Swagablog—a weekly updated blog—filled with video content and brand-new articles. Check out swagablog.com.

Looks cool, but did it work?

Yes.

During Covid-19 while other colleges were dropping in new applications, Hampden-Sydney’s went up 54% thanks to our efforts with the Swagalog/blog. And that’s with no other marketing whatsoever.

In a 2023 survey, 22% of newly enrolled student respondents said The Swagalog had a strong influence on their impression of Hampden-Sydney College.

The success of the Swagalog cannot be stopped, now in its fifth and most fun edition.