Subnivean
Subnivean, a literary journal housed at SUNY Oswego—where the city receives four times more snow than Manhattan—publishes three curated issues per year. Managed by a team of driven undergraduate editors, the journal delivers "high-caliber literary content amidst the digital noise ...".
The ask was to create a unique experience that resonates with students and draws attention. My challenge was to create a unique brand and website experience that would resonate with literary audiences, students, and faculty.
Readability is everything for a literary journal, so we began our exploration with typefaces. We landed on Louis George Cafe Light and Lucida Bright Regular, to carry the prose that will grace the site.
Within our search we also found our wordmark. The effect is subtle, but evokes the duality of what "... lies above and beneath the surface"—like the subnivean zone itself. The vertical logo lock-up subtly reinforces this theme, suggesting hidden depth below a minimal surface.
2021 Firecracker Award
Nominee for Best Literary Journal Debut
service
brand
web
marketing
year
2019 - present
Texture & depth
Departing from the common white-background aesthetic of most literary sites, the client and I discussed creating some kind of visual element to the page that wouldn't hamper readability. We settled on urban abstract photography converted to grayscale to provide the texture, depth, and visual richness of the work presented in each issue.
Anthology
To celebrate their 5 year anniversary Subnivean created a "best of" anthology to spotlight Subnivean Award winners and works from notable and emerging authors, such as Arisa White, Juan Felipe-Herrera, Paul Flores, to name a few.
In order to earn our place on reader's coffee tables the editor selected for a square shape. This presented several unique challenges. Greatest of all the challenges was designing for "Visual" poems. Visual poems you cannot change a line break or a space, without breaking the poem. It was a challenge that we had already encountered on the website, that needed to be tackled for print. Using Chaun Ballard's award winning poem, I found that a "pin-up" layout was the best way forward to showcase his and the other artists' brilliant work.
service
book design
year
2024
