EDITORIAL DESIGN: SPRING 2022 ANGELOS

Once a quarter, I design the national magazine — cover to cover — for Kappa Delta Sorority's National Headquarters. The spring issue for The Angelos was extra special this year, as one of the feature articles was all about Kristen and her KD Story. We both worked at KD's HQ prior to transitioning to ARCHd full-time and Kristen is a KD alumna of the Delta Pi chapter from Middle Tennessee State University.

I've compiled a few of my favorite designs/spreads from the Spring 2022 issue of The Angelos.

The cover and accompanying feature article highlights a different route for sorority recruitment, outside of the traditional and official recruitment week offered on most college campuses. To play up that aspect of a "new route," I illustrated a vintage road sign to incorporate the article title and pulled in sunset imagery in a colorful gradient wash.

One of the feature article designs for this issue was all about college athletes and how they balance their athletic schedules and academic course-load together with their responsibilities as a sorority council officer. I wanted to play up that term "balance," which also happened to be the title of this article. To show how quick something can become "off-balance," I split that title and off-set the lettering across the full opening spread. I incorporated the same angles from the opening typography into the overall shape and flow of the text throughout the article.

In every issue of The Angelos, there is a recurring article with the theme, "Go Confidently." When we don't have stock photography to go along with the copy, I get to rely SOLELY on my creativity and come up with an editorial illustration to help tell the story. For this issue, the article was about “Therapy 101: How, When and Why to Start." I decided to illustrate a standard therapy session between two women. I chose a bright, vibrant color scheme to highlight the joy one can find through seeking help with their mental health. I also wanted the session to feel comfortable, with the women at ease. So, I illustrated the two women relaxing on a couch while sipping coffee. I love how this illustration came out!

Next up, Kristen's My KD Story article design! Designing for someone whose story I know inside and out but that also happens to be sitting at a desk directly next to my own was SLIGHTLY daunting. I also had a lot of photography to work into this 6 page article spread. I started with a full headshot of Kristen, photographed in our home studio here in Memphis. I overlayed that photo with illustrated elements to mimic the view on the back screen of a professional camera (this was Kristen's idea, so her sitting next to me offered a LITTLE bit of help). I overlayed some fun shapes (pulled from a few of our marketing materials) to provide some visual movement, and of course designed it all in the ARCHd brand colors. I then used that same line from the main shape of the opening spread to build the image grid on the next spread.

Lastly up for this issue is also a column that appears in the back of every issue: the KD Poll. KD uses their social media channels to poll members on various questions surrounding a singular theme. This month's theme was all about Spring and its routines. For this feature, I typically portray the answers with some type of infographic design, sometimes paired with small illustrations of the "winning" answer. For the color scheme, I always start with the KD brand green and choose a few complementary colors (sometimes pulled from other feature article designs earlier in the magazine).

These are just a few of my favorite designs from this 56 page issue. To view the full digital edition of Kappa Delta's Spring 2022 issue, click here.

To collaborate with us on your next design project or editorial design needs, contact us here.