RE— Magazine
Project Overview
Designing a tense, stark, and gritty editorial experience
RE— Magazine is an experimental editorial design project that explores how typography, image treatment, pacing, and composition can shape emotional tone within print media. Imagined as a magazine publication to challenge the status quo, each month of RE– is designed and curated with provocative content on contemporary environmental issues, and how we might devise solutions — with a tense visual identity to match. Volume One focuses on the wastefulness of the Fashion Industry.
The project challenged conventional magazine aesthetics by pushing graphic elements to their limits — using aggressive cropping, oversized typography, asymmetrical grids, and deliberate negative space to create an immersive reading experience that feels both raw and intentional.
The project challenged conventional magazine aesthetics by pushing graphic elements to their limits — using aggressive cropping, oversized typography, asymmetrical grids, and deliberate negative space to create an immersive reading experience that feels both raw and intentional.
Project Objective
To create a visually driven magazine that captures a gritty, emotionally charged atmosphere while maintaining clarity, hierarchy, and readability across long-form editorial content.
Project Disciplines
Editorial Design
Visual Identity
Skills
Brand Identity
Editorial System
Layout Design
Typography
Image Direction
Cover Design
Multi-page Spreads
Tools
Adobe InDesign
Adobe Photoshop
The Concept
RE— was developed around the idea of tension.
The visual direction draws from brutalist editorial design, underground fashion publications, independent cinema, and contemporary art magazines. Rather than relying on decorative elements, the design creates impact through restraint: sharp typography, high-contrast imagery, heavy use of black and white, and intentional spatial imbalance.
Every design decision was made to reinforce the magazine’s emotional tone:
Tight crops create discomfort and intimacy
Oversized typography introduces urgency and rhythm
Stark negative space gives imagery room to breathe
Layered compositions create visual friction
Minimal color usage amplifies contrast and mood
The result is an editorial system that feels tense, raw, and immersive.
Every design decision was made to reinforce the magazine’s emotional tone:
Tight crops create discomfort and intimacy
Oversized typography introduces urgency and rhythm
Stark negative space gives imagery room to breathe
Layered compositions create visual friction
Minimal color usage amplifies contrast and mood
The result is an editorial system that feels tense, raw, and immersive.
Design Direction
Typography became the foundation of the publication’s visual voice.
The layouts combine bold display type with restrained body copy to create a clear hierarchy while maintaining a strong editorial attitude. Headlines intentionally dominate the page, often interacting directly with imagery to blur the line between text and composition.
The contrast between large-scale typography and tightly structured body text creates rhythm throughout the magazine. This pacing allows the publication to shift between moments of intensity and moments of restraint.
The contrast between large-scale typography and tightly structured body text creates rhythm throughout the magazine. This pacing allows the publication to shift between moments of intensity and moments of restraint.
The editorial system intentionally challenges conventional margins and alignment rules.
A flexible grid allowed layouts to alternate between dense compositions and open negative space, helping each spread establish its own emotional pacing while remaining visually cohesive.
Images bleed aggressively across pages, text blocks sit asymmetrically within the grid, and compositions frequently push toward the edge of the format. These choices reinforce the magazine’s confrontational tone while maintaining enough structure to guide the reader.
Images bleed aggressively across pages, text blocks sit asymmetrically within the grid, and compositions frequently push toward the edge of the format. These choices reinforce the magazine’s confrontational tone while maintaining enough structure to guide the reader.
Imagery plays a critical role in establishing atmosphere throughout RE—.
Photography and graphic elements were treated with a high-contrast, stripped-back aesthetic that supports the publication’s stark visual language. Cropping was used intentionally to create ambiguity, tension, and movement across spreads.
Rather than functioning as passive content, imagery becomes part of the editorial composition itself—interacting directly with typography, framing devices, and negative space.
Rather than functioning as passive content, imagery becomes part of the editorial composition itself—interacting directly with typography, framing devices, and negative space.
Challenges
One of the biggest challenges was balancing expressive editorial experimentation with clarity and functionality.
Because the project relied heavily on dramatic typography, unconventional compositions, and minimal visual restraint, maintaining readability became a key design consideration. Each spread needed to feel visually impactful without overwhelming the reader.
Another challenge was ensuring consistency across highly dynamic layouts. Although the spreads vary significantly in composition and pacing, the magazine still needed to feel unified through typography, spacing, image treatment, and overall tone.
This required building a flexible editorial system strong enough to support experimentation while preserving cohesion.
Another challenge was ensuring consistency across highly dynamic layouts. Although the spreads vary significantly in composition and pacing, the magazine still needed to feel unified through typography, spacing, image treatment, and overall tone.
This required building a flexible editorial system strong enough to support experimentation while preserving cohesion.
Reflection
This project deepened my understanding of editorial pacing, typographic hierarchy, and the relationship between structure and emotion within print design.
It challenged me to think beyond static layouts and approach magazine design as a narrative experience shaped through rhythm, composition, and visual tension. More importantly, it reinforced the idea that strong editorial design is not just about aesthetics—it’s about controlling how a reader feels as they move through a publication.
RE— became an exploration of how graphic design can create atmosphere, provoke emotion, and elevate storytelling through intentional visual systems.
RE— became an exploration of how graphic design can create atmosphere, provoke emotion, and elevate storytelling through intentional visual systems.
