Open Ceilings by Mechanism Press | Graphics Director
June 2020 - June 2021
In working with Open Ceilings, my graphic design experience was able to expand far beyond the pages of the literary magazine.
For one, I was able to redesign the entire website, selecting the beautiful blue watercolor image that was used in the original issue of Open Ceilings as the focal point to create a sense of nostalgia. From this image, I pulled a range of hues to create a cool color palette that gave the website life.
I also opted for the classic EB Garamond typeface—the same one used throughout our literary magazine to maintain familiarity with loyal readers.
Literary Ad Swaps
Open Ceilings was often presented with the opportunity to trade ads with other literary magazines. This gave us a chance to expand our audience and promote our branding in other printed publications. I chose to continue using the watercolor image within the ad swaps as well as make use of the same sans serif font used in the printed issues—Monserrat—in order to maintain unity and a coherent sense of branding.
For a digital ad swap, I also made a corresponding Open Ceilings Ad for what was intended to be uploaded to an Instagram Story.
Zine Fundraiser
Working within a tight web of departments gave me opportunities for collaboration and brainstorming not just within the design team.
In preparation for Issue 5, I was invited into a business meeting where the team was discussing possible fundraising ideas. I suggested making zines: “a self-published, non-commercial print-work that is typically produced in small, limited batches.” This would allow us to produce the zines ourselves and sell them for significantly less than what our much larger literary magazines were going for.
We decided to make three different zines—each with a potential theme for Issue 5 and the top-selling zine would be the crowing theme. I was the designer paired with Lifeboat, a concept drawn from trying times and the safety nets we use to persevere.
While Lifeboat did not win the top theme, the entire process was exciting and new to Open Ceilings and I am proud to have had a hand in creating a profit-driven project to keep the self-sustaining magazine running for many more issues.
