Why Magazine Design Still Has My Heart (Even in a Digital World)

There’s something about holding a freshly printed magazine in your hands that still brings me to my happy place. It’s like stepping into an off-the-beaten-path bookstore, filled with the scent of paper and the promise of an adventure waiting to be discovered. Maybe it’s nostalgia. Or maybe it’s the quiet pride that comes from knowing you had a hand in something that feels, well, real. Tangible. For over 25 years, I’ve lived in that world of publishing, designing, and art directing, and my love for graphic design remains one of the great through-lines of my life.

I didn’t know what kind of designer I wanted to be in college. I just knew that I loved graphic design—the research, the process of putting all the pieces together to make something beautiful. But it was during my senior year at the School of Visual Arts, in a portfolio class with renowned designer Paula Scher from Pentagram, that everything changed. We were assigned a redesign of LIFE magazine. I remember Paula walking into the room, skimming everyone’s work, then stopping, grabbing mine and saying, “This is where you’re meant to be. Magazines.” When Paula Scher gives you a compliment, it’s like winning an Oscar or at least that is how I felt at the time. That project ended up being selected for the Art Directors Club Show and was recognized by Pantone in their book Communicating with Color for bold use of color. Who knew? Shy, timid me still had so much to learn, but that moment was the catalyst I needed. It was the push that set me on a path toward an amazing and rewarding career.

I’ve been lucky. My career has taken me from an internship at Condé Nast to freelancing for some of the top international magazines in the world, covering everything from fashion, food, and wine to spas, parenting, photography, and high-end gardens. Some issues were an absolute joy to work on; others tested every ounce of my patience, sanity, and creativity. Somewhere in the midst of it all, the late nights, the press checks, the debates over typefaces, grids, and photo swaps…I became not just a designer, but a visual storyteller, a leader, and a teacher. Along the way, design thinking became my compass.

If you’ve ever worked in editorial design, you know the dance: solving problems with pictures and text, creating order out of chaos, making a story not just readable but 100% feelable. There’s strategy in every decision. Why this typeface? Why that crop? Why do we break the grid here but not there? That thinking, that sense of intentionality, is the heartbeat of good design. And it’s what’s kept me coming back, issue after issue.

Of course, it hasn’t always been smooth. I’ve had to fight for my seat at the table more times than I can count. I’ve fought for concepts I believed in, for layouts I knew told the story best. Sometimes I won. Sometimes I didn’t. That’s part of it. But through it all, I learned the value of relationships; the editors, writers, and photographers who collaborate (and sometimes collide) with you to create something better than any one of you could have done alone. You learn compromise, how to stand up for yourself, when to let go, and the importance of always leaving your ego at the door.

These days, my personal space is smaller. Multiple moves over the years have forced me to let go of the stacks of magazines I once hoarded. But I’ve kept a few, the ones that mattered most. The ones that taught me something. And even now, when a new issue goes to print, I do a mental post-mortem: What worked? What didn’t? What might I try differently next time? It’s a quiet ritual, but one that keeps me grounded in the practice.

So, if you’re someone just starting out in this field, or maybe you’ve been in it a while and just need a reminder, know this: design is about more than making things look good. It’s about making people feel something. It’s about solving problems, trusting your instincts, and telling the truth with visuals. And sometimes, it’s about standing your ground in a room full of opinions and saying, “I believe in this. If I were standing in a sea of magazines, I’d pick this one up.

Because at the end of the day, we are visual storytellers. We gather from the world around us, filter it through our own perspective, and offer it back in a way that makes people pause. And if you’re lucky? They’ll feel something too.