Case studies / 02

Signal

A little more room for the story.

MY ROLE
Editorial UX & art direction
SCOPE
Digital design journal
PROJECT TYPE
Independent design study
YEAR
2026
The front page for Signal
SIGNAL / EDITORIAL EXPERIENCEORIGINAL CONCEPT · OPEN IMAGE TO EXPLORE ↗

THE CONTEXT

A question
worth exploring.

THE BRIEF

Signal is an independent publication about spaces, objects and everyday design. The concept explores how a strong editorial identity can make discovery feel natural and long-form reading comfortable.

THE DESIGN CHALLENGE

Give stories a distinct visual voice while creating a flexible structure for an editorial team. The same system must support a feature-led homepage, topic collections and quieter article pages.

An original portfolio concept. The screens use illustrative content and sample data.

THE APPROACH

The decisions
behind the details.

  1. 01

    Let the feature set the pace

    The homepage pairs one photograph with one clear editorial idea. Supporting stories come afterwards, giving the reader a deliberate starting point.

  2. 02

    Build a comfortable reading rhythm

    A narrower reading column, clear metadata and restrained navigation help the article carry the experience. Related reading appears after the story.

  3. 03

    Make a system editors can use

    Feature cards, pull quotes and story lists share predictable spacing and type. Mobile layouts preserve their hierarchy without shrinking a desktop composition.

REFLECTION

Where this
goes next.

The study establishes an editorial language across five connected views. A production phase would focus on keyboard navigation, content edge cases and how the templates handle much longer titles or missing imagery.

  • Can readers find a topic and return to it easily?
  • Does long-form type remain comfortable at larger text settings?
  • Can an editor assemble a page without custom layout work?

Photography by Pavel Nekoranec, via Unsplash. Full image credits.

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Form & Function