MIDWEST LIVING
MAGAZINE DESIGN + ILLUSTRATIONS
Best of the Midwest Visual Map
I designed and developed the Small Towns well story within Best of the Midwest's 2023 magazine in association with Christy Brokens, Art Director for Midwest Living. The process involved developing a consistent look and color scheme to be applied across all of the stories, researching and selecting imagery, and varying the layouts slightly to allow for each small town page to remain independent yet connected to the other stories.
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CLIENT: BEST OF THE MIDWEST
SKILLS: PRINT DESIGN
PROGRAMS: PHOTOSHOP AND INDESIGN
First Drafts of Restore + Renew pages, attempting different concepts and styles
I designed the three page spread for the Restore + Renew story in the well of Explore Illinois Spring 2023 edition. The process involved lots of trial and error to create a peaceful, calming tone throughout the story while incorporating various images and text. In the drafts showcased above, I developed many mock-ups trying different styles, including versions with illustrations, paint brush strokes, and designs pulled from images. I also did a lot of photo research and editing to find images that best fit each story and the area of the page. In the end, I chose to continue with my hand-drawn leaf illustrations which provided a necessary element to break up stories and ideas on the paged and differentiate from other image-heavy stories in the magazine. Script fonts were utilized for titles to carry the desired calming tone across the pages and it was paired together with a sans serif font for readability and simplicity.
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CLIENT: ENJOY ILLINOIS
SKILLS: PRINT DESIGN
PROGRAMS: ILLUSTRATOR AND INDESIGN
I helped design the three-page spread for the Journey story in the travel section of Midwest Living 2023 summer edition. The Journey stories have a similar feel and look through various Midwest Living issues, so I maintained this look while providing variety with image layout. The process involved selecting the best images that represented the text descriptions and laying them out in an engaging, cohesive manner that led viewers across the page.
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CLIENT: MIDWEST LIVING
SKILLS: PRINT DESIGN
PROGRAMS: ILLUSTRATOR AND INDESIGN
Final Illustrations, as seen on Midwest Living's Website
First Draft of Illustrations - Watercolor Style
I drew and illustrated the Experience Gifts online story covers for Midwest Living website in association with Ruby Pierce, Senior Graphic Designer for Midwest Living. The focus was on minimal line illustration for continuity, simplicity, and a modern look that breaks up the imagery throughout the rest of the website. The color scheme was selected with the intention of a light-hearted, muted theme to appeal to a younger reading audience. The original illustration style was watercolor and drawn through ProCreate, but for continuity purposes and a more modern, simplified feel, the style was shifted to line.
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CLIENT: MIDWEST LIVING
SKILLS: ILLUSTRATION
PROGRAM: ILLUSTRATOR
Road Rally Icon Rough Drafts
With Erin Keefer, assistant art director for Midwest Living, I helped create the Road Rally badges featured in the Midwest Living 2023 summer edition. The process involved brainstorming icons and concepts that paired well with each city (for example, a windmill for Holland) and then pairing colors, shapes, and icons together to create a similar, but different badge look for each individual city. The final badges stand out and label the cities effectively in each section.
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CLIENT: MIDWEST LIVING
SKILLS: ICON / BADGE DESIGN
PROGRAMS: ILLUSTRATOR
I illustrated 54 animals for the Midwest Living Ultimate National Parks Guide. The process involved brainstorming conceptual ideas, looking at other icons for inspiration, and illustrating vectors in Adobe Illustrator. The final animal illustrations were posted on Midwest Living's website, as linked HERE and in the images below.
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CLIENT: MIDWEST LIVING
SKILLS: ILLUSTRATOR
PROGRAM: ILLUSTRATOR
https://www.midwestliving.com/travel/state-and-national-parks/isle-royale-national-park-guide/
https://www.midwestliving.com/travel/state-and-national-parks/cuyahoga-valley-national-park-guide/
https://www.midwestliving.com/travel/state-and-national-parks/badlands-and-wind-cave-national-parks-guide/
https://www.midwestliving.com/travel/state-and-national-parks/indiana-dunes-national-park-guide/
https://www.midwestliving.com/travel/state-and-national-parks/theodore-roosevelt-national-park-guide/
https://www.midwestliving.com/travel/state-and-national-parks/voyageurs-national-park-guide/
I animated and produced the Midwest Living/ MTM holiday party evite to be sent out to the entire staff. To make the evite engaging, exciting, and encourage workers to get into the Christmas spirit, I created a continuous snowfall effect that drew viewers' eyes down the page. I animated the words "Cheers!" as well, changing the colors letter by letter to efficiently educate and engage the audience through entertainment.
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CLIENT: MIDWEST LIVING / MTM
SKILLS: ANIMATION
PROGRAM: INDESIGN AND PHOTOSHOP
I brainstormed, designed, and edited a Christmas themed DIY Instagram Reel for Midwest Living. The process involved sketching and planning out conceptual ideas, looking to other brands' Instagram reels and top trends for inspiration. I then developed a storyboard, sketching out each shot and outlining my vision for the project (as seen above). Next, with Erin Keefer, I took inventory of our supplies and selected the necessary materials and location to film. Following the storyboard, I, along with Erin Keefer and Joie Probst, created a reel video focusing on clarity and building excitement for consumers. The final reel was posted on Midwest Living's Instagram page, as linked HERE.
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CLIENT: MIDWEST LIVING
SKILLS: VIDEO DESIGN, EDITING, & PRODUCTION
PROGRAM: INSTAGRAM
