Selected Work

HGTV Magazine

role

Editorial Art Director

year

2021

HGTV (Home and Garden Television) is not only a popular entertainment network, but also a highly successful magazine. Published by Hearst, HGTV Magazine delights its readers with accessible home decor trends, inspiring DIY ideas, and uplifting content.

Gift Guide

December 2021

One of the most anticipated annual features: the holiday gift guide. The editors requested only type—very lengthy type—on the opener page. The turn pages would be a simple grid with the merchandise and credits.

With the brief in mind, I recruited Andrea Pippins to illustrate the opener typography, and also integrate doodle illustrations with select merchandise on the turn pages.

Inspiration board

I really liked the illustrator's work, and these samples were the most inspiring for me. Her approachable style, youthful energy and vibrant use of color made me feel confident about executing the art direction.

comp and mock-up

Because the type on the opener was very lengthy, I had to suggest general sizing, arrangement and spatial relationships for the illustrator. My mock-up also included loose guidance for type variation and scale, a color palette, and with doodle elements.

I thought some of the gift guide items could use a little whimsy, with cute doodles. Now the opener connects to the turn pages, and the layout is more cohesive. I drew these sketches as a reference for the illustrator to use.

the sketches

The illustrator presented three options for me to choose from, and I selected the last one:

This is the first round of doodles:

final work

The final product was worth the rounds of edits. It is cheerful, active, and makes this gift guide an overall enjoyable experience.

Have a Drink On Us!

December 2021

The magazine aims to be a shop-able experience, so the pages must entice readers. This spread features an eclectic range of trending coasters.

the idea

Instead of collecting and using images supplied by each vendor, I imagined shooting a composed arrangement of the items. Since the headline includes the word, "drink," I wanted to also shoot a real drink in the composition. I shot some coasters that I had at home and made a fake red background to sketch this idea for my team.

comp and mock-up

Once my vision was approved, the market team presented over 50 coasters, and I edited down/selected the specific coasters for the layout. Then I comped my idea using web images of each coaster that we intended to shoot. The arrangement and scale had to be carefully considered.

final work

During the shoot I collaborated with photographer Philip Friedman and stylist Kristine Treviño to ensure the proper placement and crop of the coasters. Although we ended up swapping a few items after the shoot, I worked with our retouching team to produce this beautiful result.

Bring It, Thanksgiving!

November 2021

Everyone could use a little help when it comes preparing for Thanksgiving. The editors compiled various tips and tricks in an outline, and I figured out how to make the content appealing and easy to digest. I hired Salini Perera to illustrate the most visually-driven topics, and I designed a "holiday hero" label to help break up the content.

comp and mock-up

I reviewed the text with my editors, decided which topics needed illustrations, and roughly designed the layout to see how much space I have for each illustration. There was enough space for one full-page "hero" illustration, three quarter-page illustrations, and four smaller spot illustrations.

I researched and comped all of the visuals below, so I could effectively art-direct the illustrator.

the sketches

This was the first round of work that I received from the illustrator. A few spot illustrations were more developed than I had expected, but it didn't cause any complications.

final work

After feedback and editorial changes, this was the final layout: