Cottage Life wins 11 awards in Branson, Missouri

The hammering coming from the editorial offices at Cottage Life magazine this week is not from a DIY project planned for the next issue. It is the sound of Cottage Life staffers hanging the many award plaques publisher Al Zikovitz and I hauled home from the 2010 International Regional Magazine Association awards ceremony in Branson, Missouri.

Cottage Life earned 10 IRMA awards for its writing and design and was just a mouse-squeak shy of taking the top Magazine of the Year prize, which we won last year.

Special kudos to Cottage Life’s art director, Kim Zagar, who received silver awards in the categories Art Direction of a Single Story and Overall Art Direction (over 40,000 circulation).

Here are the winning Cottage Life pieces, published in 2009. Do you recognize some of your favourites?

FINALIST

— Magazine of the Year (over 40,000 circulation)

GOLD

— Profiles: “Life at the Taxidermy Motel” by Gerald Hannon (Oct. 2009)

— Illustration: “Waterfront not included” by Ray Ford Daniel Hertzberg (Summer 2009)

SILVER

— Environment Feature: “Whose island is it, anyway?” by Sarah Scott (Summer 2009)

— Art Direction of a Single Story: “Take it, or leave it?” Art Director Kim Zagar (Oct. 2009)

— Overall Art Direction (over 40,000 circulation): Art Director Kim Zagar

— Department: “Puttering,” Cottage Life staff and contributors

BRONZE

— Public Issues: “This land is their land” by John Lorinc (June 2009)

— Travel Feature: “They did it their way” by Jim Moodie (June 2009)

AWARD OF MERIT

— Historical Feature: “Chair wars” by Douglas Hunter (April 2009)

— Cover (May 2009)

Cottage Life is a long-time member of the International Regional Magazine Association (IRMA), which marked its 50th year this summer. The organization includes some 40 North American magazines that represent regions as diverse as Arizona, Maine, Ohio, and British Columbia. IRMA has been presenting awards to deserving members for 30 years, with judging conducted by independent experts in the magazine field.

Did you know that Cottage Life has earned more than 100 awards since its launch in 1988—including Magazine of the Year from IRMA, the National Magazine Awards Foundation, and the Canadian Society of Magazine Editors?