In 1927, the Cranbrook Foundation was established as the parent body to oversee the establishment and work of the Cranbrook institutions. Each institution was created as a separate legal entity except the Academy of Art which was a division of the Cranbrook Foundation until 1942. In 1973, the Cranbrook Foundation was dissolved and the Cranbrook Educational Community (CEC) was established to supersede it. The CEC is comprised of the Cranbrook Academy of Art, Cranbrook Art Museum, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research, Cranbrook House & Gardens, Cranbrook Institute of Science, Cranbrook Schools, and Horizons-Upward Bound. The CEC produced a variety of serial print publications until the early 2000s which served as both external marketing and publicity as well as internal communications services.

Annual Reports were published by the President's Office. They conveyed the administrative function of the Community throughout the year and set the goals for the coming year.

Although named differently, and published by three different offices, the Cranbrook Bulletin, Cranbrook Magazine, Cranbrook Quarterly, and Cranbrook Journal had similar focuses and audiences. They were never published simultanously, but succeeded each other in the order stated. The Cranbrook Bulletin (1943-1946) was published under the Cranbrook Foundation, and the remainder under the CEC. There is a twenty-three year gap between the Bulletin and its sucessor, the Magazine.

The Cranbrook Magazine was first produced in the autumn of 1969. The Cranbrook Public affairs office published it for alumni, parents, members, friends, and others affiliated with the Cranbrook institutions. It sought, “to embrace the various words of Cranbrook—education, art, culture, science, and religion” (V. 1:1, page 1). Though produced by the Public Affairs office, the Cranbrook Magazine sought the active participation of the communities for which it was published. It ceased publication after the spring 1975 issue, replaced by the Cranbrook Quarterly.

Successor to the Cranbrook Magazine, The Cranbrook Quarterly began publication during the summer of 1975. Responsibility for producing the Quarterly belonged to the Cranbrook External Affairs office. A publication “sent at no charge to those with Cranbrook affiliations,” the Quarterly was born “as a part of a Cranbrook austerity program to cut costs to a minimum.” The scope of the publication was to “report upon and interpret Cranbrook and the interest areas of the Cranbrook institutions of education, science, art, religion, and culture in general.” The Cranbrook Quarterly was awarded the 1984 grand award for excellence in independent school publishing by the national Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). The Quarterly ceased publication after nine years with the May 1984 issue, replaced by the Cranbrook Journal. At that time the public relations office published the Quarterly.

The Cranbrook Journal was published two to three times per year since its inception in December 1984, as a successor to the Cranbrook Quarterly. It reported on news and features of interest to the Cranbrook community and was a publication of the Public Relations Office of Cranbrook Educational Community. It was distributed to all alumni, parents, members, staff, and other affiliates and friends of the community and was discontinued in 2000.

Employee-only serials included Currents, What's Happening in Cranbrook Educational Community, This Month at Cranbrook, and Construction Dispatch.

Prepared for Cranbrook employees by the External Affairs Department of the Cranbrook Educational Community beginning in 1974, What’s Happening In Cranbrook Educational Community was superseded in September 1979, by the publication This Month At Cranbrook.

First published in September 1979, This Month at Cranbrook superseded What’s Happening In Cranbrook Educational Community as the monthly calendar of events for the Cranbrook Community. It was published by the Office of Public Relations and Marketing.

Currents was a newsletter published by the public relations office of the Cranbrook educational community that was distributed to all employees of the community. It began publication in May of 1990. Contributions came both from the staff of the public relations office and from a team ‘reporters’ who work within the various institutions that comprise the Cranbrook. It ran simultaneously with This Month at Cranbrook.

Published by Cranbrook Facilities/Capital Projects group as an update to ongoing and new construction projects on the CEC campus, Construction Dispatch was published on an irregular basis since 1992 for members of the Cranbrook Educational Community.