Dreams Come Full Circle
The Academy Launches THRIVE
Words: Kim Breese
Photo: Amy Reed

It hit the scene with an immediate impact. It had the polish and poise that most take years to reach. In the end, it made the journey from a dream to the real thing look easy. When the new magazine, THRIVE, premiered last month, it had all the qualities of a well-trained student setting out into the world. And perhaps that wasn't too surprising, since that's who created it.

THRIVE is the aptly-titled new quarterly magazine from the Academy, focused on celebrating successful creative talent, both within the school's varied degree programs and around the creative industries. A flip through the first issue revealed topics ranging from the students' exceptional performance in a recent advertising competition to a behind-the-scenes look at the popular TV show Prison Break. The design is fresh. The articles are engaging. The truly inspiring part, though, is the magazine's student-run staff.

Spearheaded by Academy graduate and current instructor Joseph Mancino, all of the magazine's creators—and most of its subject matter—are made up of the school's students. For them, THRIVE is an exciting new addition to the school's host of real-world industry experiences. For Mancino, it's the realization of a dream. The Tampa campus of the International Academy of Design & Technology was established in 1984. Since then, it's been providing Tampa Bay with a steady stream of turnkey professionals in a variety of design-related industries. In 2006, Joseph Mancino finished his degree at the Academy with one goal in mind.

"Almost since starting at the Academy, I had wanted to launch my own magazine," says Mancino. "I worked on projects during my time there that would set me up for it—page layout projects, helping with student-run magazines—now I am ready to tackle the real thing."

Shortly after his graduation, Mancino was hired by the school as an instructor. That, he says, is when THRIVE was born. "So much of what I took with me from the Academy came from my instructors sharing real-world experiences with me, I couldn't wait to do the same for my students." By early this year, his students were hard at work on their own hands-on experience, and on February 22, 2008, the first issue of THRIVE was released.

In its coming issues, THRIVE will feature work and words from the students of every department at the Academy, including advertising & design, fashion design, interior design, graphic design, merchandising, recording arts, computer animation, digital movie production, and digital photography. Including the full range of curriculum in the pages works twofold—it provides exposure and an opportunity to participate for all of the Academy's students, while keeping every issue of the magazine fresh and unique.
For the school, the new Editor-In-Chief, and the talented students of the Academy, the future is bright. Mancino expects THRIVE to step up to the national scene in the next 2-3 years. "I have no doubt we can take it to that level. The need for something like this extends well beyond Tampa Bay." It may sound ambitious, but with what the young instructor has accomplished so far, it doesn't seem so far-fetched.

THRIVE is a free quarterly publication distributed in combination with REAX magazine. To learn more, visit www.thrivethemagazine.com