Surface
Magazine
DRIVING ENGAGEMENT ON SURFACE.COM:
Creating short-form content from their publication that drives engagement on their online channels.
Overview
Surface Magazine, founded in 1993, is a premier publication at the intersection of design, architecture, fashion, culture, and travel. Recognized for its cutting-edge content and visual sophistication, the magazine has earned accolades as a leading voice in the creative industries. In its early years, Vanity Fair named Surface one of the top 10 “upstart magazines to watch.” Surface has since been a beacon for celebrating craftsmanship and innovation across disciplines.
With a history of hosting marquee events at Art Basel and NYCxDesign, and collaborations with top-tier thought leaders like Valerie Steele and David Rockwell, Surface Magazine remains a prestigious platform shaping the future of global design and culture.
Brief
Develop a stronger digital presence, one engages with their audience on social media and drives website clicks. I was also tasked with building out new partnership concepts with the Editor in Chief, Nate Storey, and developing editorial column ideas, translating their magazine content into social media moments.
Tools
Figma, Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Slack
Timeline
May - Sep 2024
Location
Miami and remote
Team/Partners
Creative Director, Copywriters, CEO (I was the sole designer on this project)
Impact
4.4 million views over 90 days, shipped designs to 219K+ followers, reaching over about 40% non-followers for each post.
Increased views on static posts from about 5,000 to about 15,000 views.
Brand perception research
Stakeholder workshops
Brand strategy
Brand architecture
Brand guidelines
Visual identity system
HOW I ADDED VALUE
Partnership proposals
Project management
Digital marketing
Social media management
Led Figma training course for employees
PARTNERSHIPS
Surface Magazine leverages the power of connection. At my time at Surface Magazine, I had the opportunity to work on proposals for two main partnerships, one which has already been actualized.
US Open x Maestro Dobel Tequila x Surface Magazine Partnership
With the 2025 US Open approaching, we had the opportunity to work with the Editor in Cheif on pitching a creative partnership to Maestro Dobel Tequila and the US Open. The Paloma is the US Open’s Signature drink.
I proposed the idea of the “Paloma Passport,” a creative exploration of how each restaurant bartender at the US Open’s partner restaurants embraces their own craftsmanship in the creation of their Paloma. We secured the partnership and I designed/creative directed with a team of three how each element of the digital campaign could look. This included vetting different photographer/videographers, designing the visual identity of the campaign, etc. The campaign reached nearly 800,000 people on Instagram alone.
Surface Magazine announcement of the partnership.
Surface Magazine coverage of the partnership.
Surface Magazine Paloma Passport Tasting Tour.
*Not at liberty to share Lexus partnership
digital content
After dozens of brand identity and strategy workshops, market research, and mockups, I generated hundreds of mockups and finally presented 10 new content types to the team. After rounds of feedback and approval from the CEO and leadership, we landed on the templates you see below. I envisioned their classic editorial colums into these engaging, dynamic, and brand-aligned posts below.
New Instagram feed populated with new social strategy and templates.
After the templates were created, I held a workshop with the Surface writers and editors to teach them how to use Figma. This is what they have been able to create on their own after I stopped working with Surface.
Snapshot from my working figma board. It was a fast paced, iterative process.
