The Altruist was distributed in chauffeured cars across Paris, so the reader was captive, distracted, and gone in twenty minutes. It also runs essays, interviews, photography and reviews in the same issue, the fastest way for a magazine to lose its own voice. I built it as a publishing system rather than a set of layouts: one grid, one typographic architecture, three templates carrying 148 pages. Every spread had to give something back to someone who opens the magazine at random, in bad light, in motion.
CLIENT ▸ The Altruist by Le Cab, New Hybrid & Connecting Magazine, Paris, France
YEAR ▸ Art Director Freelance
AREA ▸ Editorial & Publishing — Culture, Independent Magazine
AUDIENCE ▸ Passenger (chauffeured cars, Paris), Editorial Team, Advertiser
SCOPE ▸ Logo, visual identity, editorial system, iconography and illustration direction
SCALE ▸ 1 issue, 3 templates, 148 pages, multilingual
ROLE ▸ Art Director (Freelance)
TEAM ▸ Worked with a copywriter, the editor and the 2 founders
PROCESS ▸ Content audit → grid and typographic architecture → template system → production files and style rules
YEAR ▸ Art Director Freelance
AREA ▸ Editorial & Publishing — Culture, Independent Magazine
AUDIENCE ▸ Passenger (chauffeured cars, Paris), Editorial Team, Advertiser
SCOPE ▸ Logo, visual identity, editorial system, iconography and illustration direction
SCALE ▸ 1 issue, 3 templates, 148 pages, multilingual
ROLE ▸ Art Director (Freelance)
TEAM ▸ Worked with a copywriter, the editor and the 2 founders
PROCESS ▸ Content audit → grid and typographic architecture → template system → production files and style rules
The Challenge
A reader with twenty minutes, in motion, opening the magazine at any page
Four content types in one issue: essays, interviews, photography, and reviews, with nothing holding them together
148 pages to produce with a small team, where speed usually kills craft
A reader with twenty minutes, in motion, opening the magazine at any page
Four content types in one issue: essays, interviews, photography, and reviews, with nothing holding them together
148 pages to produce with a small team, where speed usually kills craft
Strategic Approach
Designed for random entry, so any spread works as a starting point
Built the grid and typographic architecture first, then let three templates carry the whole issue
Set type and contrast for poor light and movement rather than for a desk
Designed for random entry, so any spread works as a starting point
Built the grid and typographic architecture first, then let three templates carry the whole issue
Set type and contrast for poor light and movement rather than for a desk
Creative Solution
Three templates producing 148 pages without the issue looking repetitive
Typographic hierarchy telling a reader in two seconds what kind of piece they have landed on
Pacing built across the issue, so a short ride still lands somewhere complete
Three templates producing 148 pages without the issue looking repetitive
Typographic hierarchy telling a reader in two seconds what kind of piece they have landed on
Pacing built across the issue, so a short ride still lands somewhere complete
Scope & System
Modular grid for features and recurring sections
Typographic hierarchy across every text element, from standfirst to caption
Image rules and layout pacing, plus iconography and illustration direction
Multilingual layout rules, so translation does not break the grid
Modular grid for features and recurring sections
Typographic hierarchy across every text element, from standfirst to caption
Image rules and layout pacing, plus iconography and illustration direction
Multilingual layout rules, so translation does not break the grid
Deliverables
Full magazine layout system (print + digital-ready)
Reusable templates for key sections
Style rules for typography, spacing, grids, and image treatment
Production-ready page files and exports
Full magazine layout system (print + digital-ready)
Reusable templates for key sections
Style rules for typography, spacing, grids, and image treatment
Production-ready page files and exports
Role & Leadership
Art Director, from the grid through production files.
Worked with a copywriter, the editor and the two founders, direct, with no agency layer. The argument I had to hold: a magazine is not designed spread by spread. It is designed once, as a set of rules, and then it is produced. Three templates and 148 pages is what that buys you.
Worked with a copywriter, the editor and the two founders, direct, with no agency layer. The argument I had to hold: a magazine is not designed spread by spread. It is designed once, as a set of rules, and then it is produced. Three templates and 148 pages is what that buys you.
On The Work
Independent magazines die of production costs, not of bad ideas.
Designing the templates as carefully as the cover is what lets a small team get the next issue out at all.
Independent magazines die of production costs, not of bad ideas.
Designing the templates as carefully as the cover is what lets a small team get the next issue out at all.
The logo was designed to be editorially neutral and typographic, acting as a flexible signature that supports a wide range of cultural topics without imposing a fixed aesthetic.
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