As most students may very well know, Pandora is Centenary’s art and literary magazine and one of the only outlets for students to express themselves creatively on campus. But have you ever wondered where the magical mags come from or how they became so popular on campus? I spoke with Pandora’s Editor-in-Chief, Anna Jane Storms, to get the inside scoop.

Q: Explain what Pandora is in your own words.

Pandora is Centenary’s student-run literary and art magazine, which features student and alumni artwork and creative writing of all kinds.

Q: What can you tell readers about the history of Pandora?

Pandora was initially started in the 70s as an art magazine called Pegasus. We have a few old archived copies. Pegasus did the same thing we do. They would have a different cover [each year] and feature creative writing, photography, and drawings in a printed book. After Pegasus died out, it was resurrected as Pandora, which ran for a couple of years. Eventually, Pandora stopped operating until my freshman year, when it was revived by a few upper-class women. Lila Beavers was the Editor-in-Chief when I first started working for Pandora. It was Lila who really encouraged me to be on staff.

Q: What was Pandora like when you joined, and what was your position on staff?

I joined my sophomore year in 2020, and I was hired as Junior Editor, a position that Reece Maguire now holds. That position is an assistant to the Editor-in-Chief, working with them on the managerial side of things, but you also do all of the things other staff members do, like evaluating work and editing spreads for the magazine.

Q: What is Pandora’s process when preparing to release a new edition of the magazine?

There is a lot of work that goes into it, and that takes a lot of planning throughout the semester. The reason the magazine comes out so late in the semester is that we try to produce the best book possible. At the beginning of the semester, I make a calendar for us all that lays out important dates week by week and what we should be getting done to make sure we have a book to hand out around prep week. We have a few meetings that happen at the same time every year. The “Mood Board Meeting,” is really fun and everyone makes a Pinterest board to decide on the aesthetic. My first copy [released] as Editor-in-Chief had galaxy and moon graphics. That idea came from Phoebe Cragon, who suggested that our mood boards draw inspiration from movie theater carpets. Then we were inspired by space and rich colors with speckles. Then we all critique the mood boards. After that, I take from everyone’s ideas to draw the graphics on my iPad. So, every blob or animation we layer around contributors’ work is something that we have drawn ourselves. The interior covers, which I also drew, were inspired this year by a photo I took. The aesthetic for the upcoming edition is Barbie Mermadia. We were very inspired when watching A.R., one of our staff members, perform in Peter and the Starcatcher (a production put on by Centenary’s Theatre Program in collaboration with Stage Center). After the show, Phoebe and I talked and suggested a mermaid lagoon [theme], but I also knew I wanted to bring back a lot of pink in this edition. I also thought of a Barbie Dreamhouse theme and struggled to choose between the two ideas. Then, Phoebe suggested we do Barbie Mermadia to combine the two ideas, so we did and used inspiration from the wonderful animated film. We all [the staff] watched the film as a group at the beginning of the semester. After the “Mood Board Meeting,” we garner submissions, and our design interns and editors make really beautiful posters to hang around campus. Then, our next big meeting is to make a giant spreadsheet that we use to vote on people’s submissions. A lot of factors go into voting, but, basically, we analyze what submissions strike everyone initially and look to see if there are any similarities between them. Those submissions are chosen to go into the magazine. Then, we have another meeting called “Pairing Day,” which is my favorite. In this meeting, we make a digital layout of the book and then pair submissions together on the pages side-by-side. We decide what artwork should go with what poems and what photographs should face each other. We try to create an aspect of storytelling in the magazine by layering images and ideas as if people are going to read it continuously [from start to finish]. I love that part of it so much, and it usually takes a long time to do. Our last meeting is the famed “1 a.m. Meeting,” which has historically not lasted until 1:00 a.m., but we reserve the right to work on the magazine until that time. We have this meeting in the Jackson lounge and put all of our spreads with graphics and words together to critique as a group. We then fine-tune everything, which is the first time the magazine truly looks like what we pass out on “Pass Out Day.”

Q: How do you come up with the ideas for stickers, and how many do you typically give out? Also, how do you decide on which professors to put on a sticker?

We started doing stickers when Pandora was less well-known. We started with the black logo stickers. There are still a few of those circulating, but we are officially out of them. We originally put the stickers in our budget for advertising because Pandora was not a very popular organization like it is today. Now, everyone looks forward to the stickers, and it has become a big part of the magazine. Lila Beavers, the former Editor-in-Chief, suggested we make stickers of the Art and Communications professors. So, we made Dr. Hendricks, Professor Hawkins, and Dr. Hamming, which people really liked. People still ask for the Dr. Hendricks sticker, but we are out of them. Now, we try to do stickers of different professors each semester. The idea of designing professor stickers came up because we like to keep things fresh and give students something new to put on their laptops every semester. We also traditionally feature professors on our coloring pages because it brings in a lot of people who are not necessarily interested in art or poetry. Sometimes I draw them, but lately, A.R. has been drawing them. He has done a wonderful job. This year, he drew Dr. Chirhart with his catchphrase, “so, listen…”.  Additionally, we always draw one aesthetic neutral sticker in case a student does not have classes with one of the featured professors. We thought it would be fun to relate those stickers to the magazine’s theme. For example, we created a planet sticker and a butterfly sticker, and last year we created a rose. The rose was for the edition we dubbed the “Enchanted Forest Mag,” which channeled the feeling of getting lost in a forest. This year, we designed a mermaid tale that is holographic (a big part of Pandora’s brand).

Q: How do you choose a professor?

To choose a professor, we take into account how many people tell us about them. A lot of people mentioned Dr. Chirhart to us this year. So, if you want to see a certain professor tell someone on staff or DM us.

Q: Since you are Editor-in-Chief and also a senior, who is going to take over Pandora when you graduate?

One of the things I like about Pandora is that we have a really good system that allows it to be self-sufficient despite the fast staff turnover rate every four years. We have a good training program where senior staff mentor junior staff so that no one is left in the dark about running student media and producing a book. A.R. Rossomando, Jordan Fong, and Reece Maguire (the current Junior Editor) will be the senior staff next semester. Reece will become the Editor-in-Chief. I am very confident in Reece and excited for her. It has been really fun to teach them different skills and see them make spreads as their design styles evolve. It’s also cool to see how far I have come. At first, I didn’t know how to draw stickers on my iPad, use Adobe InDesign, or order a book from Minnesota.

Q: Can you explain “Pass Out Day?”

This year “Pass Out Day” will be on December 8th from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the Caf Deck. We will be passing out the magazines to students and delivering some to professors around campus. It’s really fun and satisfying to see everyone’s reactions to the magazine. We also give out stickers and coloring sheets that we have drawn. We make a reservation list for professors and contributors to guarantee they receive their magazines. Contributors each get two copies because many of them give a copy to their moms, which I find extremely wholesome. 

Q: What technical skills are used to make the magazine?

We use Adobe InDesign, Procreate, and Adobe Illustrator for the entire magazine. We use Smartpress for printing. We use Sticker Mule to print our stickers. To make the graphics, I hand draw them on Procreate and then upload them to a file, so editors can manipulate them and change the colors. We create graphics to go in the book but we never want them to overshadow the contributors’ work. We only want to complement their work.

Q: Judging by the posters and the Instagram, Pandora obviously has an aesthetic. How did that develop?

I believe Lila Beavers designed the logo and introduced the holographic sparkly pink aesthetic. She came up with the box logo. We have tried to continue that aesthetic but also keep it fresh and updated. We now change the exterior and interior covers to match the theme of the magazine edition, which makes it feel more collectible. People can place the magazines side by side to compare them because each edition has a personality. Each editor has their own aesthetic, but we bring them all together. For instance, Greta Simolke is really inspired by Y2K, as well as the film Boogie Nights. A.R. is inspired by the 60s and psychedelic art. Jordan is inspired by a lot of animation and physical objects. Reece and I gravitate toward a darker color palette. Phoebe comes up with the craziest ideas for us to incorporate. This year we tried to bring back more pinks and lean into teal, green, and blue. For this edition, we used a wave pattern on the outside cover as part of the sea theme.

Parts of this interview were edited for clarity.

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