I created this cover image using stock photography and video in response to budget cuts, while fully realizing the creative concept. The assets were also used to produce a cover-reveal video for social media using Photoshop’s video tools. [Photoillustration created in-house for the Growth issue.]
YES! Media
Role: Art Director
The Challenge
YES! Magazine covered politically charged, culturally sensitive topics for a diverse, multigenerational readership. This required visual decisions that balanced representation, risk, accessibility, and donor trust.
My Responsibilities
I led editorial art direction across issues, including decision-making for all covers, features, departments, and advertising. I curated imagery and art-directed artists aligned with the magazine’s shifting focus, target audience, and journalistic goals.
Artist sourced for both cover imagery and motion assets, allowing representation-driven art direction to carry seamlessly from print to video.
Stock photography and video combined to produce a motion-based cover reveal, extending the concept beyond a static cover within budget
To invite deeper engagement with the issue’s theme of access, I selected Umberto Nicoletti’s elevated portraiture to challenge reductive labels such as “migrant” or “asylum seeker,” foregrounding the humanity, dignity, and individuality of LGBTQ people navigating the asylum process.
Visuals were sourced from documented reporting and archival stock photography, sequenced in a chronological timeline—using black-and-white, muted color, and full color to visually mark the passage of time and support the historical record.
Key Contributions
> Directed visual approaches for high-stakes themed issues
> Curated photographers and illustrators whose work reflected lived experience and subject-matter alignment, often under tight budget and licensing constraints
> Balanced bold visual expression with readability, accessibility, and audience sensitivity
> Collaborated closely with editorial leadership to ensure imagery served the story, not spectacle
The Outcome
> Reinforced visual credibility across complex editorial themes
> Supported a measurable shift toward a younger readership while maintaining long-time donor trust
> Established a consistent, values-aligned art direction standard across issues