The Birth of Ablaze

The successor of feminist student publication Honey Magazine looks forward to its first edition

MACY ROBERTS Staff Writer

In the 2022-2023 academic year, Ablaze Magazine was officially established in UT’s Knoxville’s Office of Student Media. Ablaze is a student-led feminist and women’s interest magazine with the goal of empowering women on campus and in the surrounding community. Sound familiar?

Those in their second year or beyond at UT may have come across Honey Magazine since its establishment in 2019. Their first and only print issue “Awaken” was made available to students in Fall 2021 and featured articles relating to fashion, lifestyle, social issues and more. While Honey is no longer active, fans of the magazine need not fear.

Although it has a different name and overall aesthetic, Ablaze is essentially a rebranding of Honey. Like Honey, Ablaze believes in the overarching goal of empowering a collective female voice, but this time around it plans to do so using a more organized and intentional approach.

Editor-in-Chief Sydney Burzynski, a senior advertising major, describes Ablaze as Honey’s older sister – one that is “more experienced, more knowledgeable and more professional.”

“There were several motivating factors behind the choice to undergo a rebrand, but the primary reason was the need to grow and change,” Burzynski said. “This desire corresponded to the transition of power both internally and externally.” sign team. In Spring 2022, she decided she wanted to be more involved with the magazine and joined the ad sales team. When the former editor-in-chief resigned, Burzynski applied for the position and was chosen by the Office of Student Media after a series of interviews.

The physical differences between Honey and Ablaze are obvious to outsiders. These include a switch from a warm-toned color palette to a cooler one with more jewel tones, a new logo and, of course, a new name.

However, according to Burzynski, a lot more went into the rebranding process than what meets the eye, such as conducting research regarding the magazine’s target audience.

Though Ablaze is now established in the Office of Student Media, the rebranding process remains ongoing. Two main objectives are left on Ablaze’s to-do list: establishing the magazine in the community through repeated exposure and brand awareness, as well as producing the first print publication.

Burzynski has high hopes for the impact Ablaze will have on UT’s campus and student media in general.

“Most importantly, I want the magazine to function as a community of people with like-minded values and interests who come together for a sole purpose,” Burzynski said. “Secondly, I want the club to serve a practical purpose … a place for one to develop hands-on skills that will correlate – whether directly or indirectly – to their future career.”

Like Burzynski, Leigh Shields, a junior cinema studies major, was involved with Honey before transitioning to Ablaze. Shields joined the photography department in January 2021 and has held the position of Photo Editor since May 2021.

“I was initially told about the rebrand during my interview for the photography editor position before the fall semester of 2022,” Shields said. “The idea of rebranding was intimidating and I felt apprehensive after knowing the extensive work put into Honey.”

As the sole photographer for Honey’s “Awaken” issue due to a lack of staff, Shields felt the visuals in the print publication were monotonous and limited in creativity as a result of wanting to stick to a certain look that fit the Honey brand.

“While our magazine branding is important, the Ablaze issue will incorporate a variety of aesthetics and photography styles to create greater visual interest,” Shields said. “I cannot wait to showcase the work and unique visions of the talented photographers on the team.”

Shields believes the transition from Honey to Ablaze has led to greater collaboration among different departments that allow them to overlap with each other rather than separate into distinctive bubbles. She described the overall transition as daunting yet rewarding.

“The rebrand has been difficult in the sense of figuring out what core characteristics of Honey to maintain and what changes needed to be made for the magazine to adapt to its evolving staff,” Shields said.

“For the sake of its longevity and to keep content fresh, I hope to see a continuation of diverse content that reflects the changing interests of its demographic.”

Students interested in joining Ablaze are encouraged to apply on their website. Opportunities are available in departments devoted to content creation, graphic design, photo and video, social media and ad sales. No experience is required – just the desire to learn and grow.

Ablaze’s debut print issue is expected to be released in May 2023. To stay updated, follow @ablazeutk on their various social media, including Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.