Olivia Simonds

Overview

During a six-month contract internship, I worked as a media designer for the digital fashion magazine Contentmode. Although their website is still in the process of being redesigned, I was brought on to contribute to the visual direction, layout design, and overall editorial identity of several magazine issues.

Role & Responsibilities

My role focused on establishing a strong and cohesive visual identity across the magazine's editorial layouts. Working closely with the Editor-in-Chief, I contributed to the visual direction of multiple issues, designing editorial spreads, developing layout systems, and ensuring consistency across typography, color, imagery, and page structure.

I also art directed several magazine covers and designed digital layouts for multiple issues, ensuring the magazine's editorial storytelling and visual narrative translated clearly and cohesively across each issue. Due to an NDA, earlier design iterations and internal materials cannot be publicly shared; however, feel free to reach out for additional details.

The Problems

The magazine lacked a consistent layout system, resulting in inconsistent hierarchy, spacing, and visual rhythm across issues.
Typography and visual styling varied between issues, creating a fragmented editorial identity.
Some layouts had high visual density, which reduced readability and disrupted the flow of long-form editorial content.
There was a need for clearer structure and pacing across spreads to better support editorial storytelling.

Approach & Improvements

I worked closely with the Editor-in-Chief and a small team of designers, meeting weekly to review spreads, discuss editorial direction, and refine layout systems. The process began with developing moodboards and visual references to define typography, grid systems, color palettes, and overall visual tone for the magazine. Using this foundation, I designed layout templates and grid systems to create consistency across features, interviews, and visual stories. These templates were then used to design full editorial spreads, where I focused on hierarchy, pacing, image placement, and typographic balance to create a clear and immersive reading experience. I also contributed to magazine cover art direction, ensuring each cover aligned with the publications evolving visual identity while still allowing for creative variation between issues.

Outcome

I established a more cohesive editorial identity and more consistent layout system across the magazine. Unifying typography, imagery, and layout improved readability, strengthened the magazine's visual identity, and created a more attractive experience.

Through designing multiple covers and editorial layouts over the six-month period, I strengthened my skills in editorial design, typography, grid systems, and visual storytelling, while gaining experience working within a real magazine production timeline and collaborative editorial environment.