Role: Art Director, UI/UX Lead

Extended Team: Norah Rami (Product Manager), Katrina Itonia (UI/UX), Janine Navalta (UI/UX), Emmi Wu (Social Media), Insia Haque (Social Media)

Time Frame: 4 months

Tools: Figma, Adobe Illustrator

Skills: Visual Identity, Branding, User Research, UX/UI Principles, Prototyping, Social Media Strategy

#editorial

Forefronting the promotion of Street’s various editorial content, such as the iconic print magazine, quirky weekly newsletter, and breadth of digital-only articles.

#modern

Ensuring simple, clean, and hierarchical distribution of information while following user-experience best practices and digital journalism conventions.

01. An ‘Infinite’ Scroll

Users will have a larger breadth of articles to view at first glance without having to navigate screens or use the search function. The length of the scroll encourages greater retention.

This also establishes a greater editorial presence for Street from the get-go.

#modern #editorial

02. Section Features and

Visual Hierarchy

Users can find and explore timely articles from specific sections with ease.

Standout feature articles and weekly newsletter lists are presented above the fold to encourage traffic to editors’ proudest works.

#modern #editorial

04. Brand Connection,

Brand Celebration

This is a website that screams Street, featuring its iconic teal color and updated typeface combinations.

Beyond that, bespoke icons were created for each Street-specific section and callout.

Users are able to make an immediate connection between the modern print product and the website.

#authentic #modern

05. Street-Style Promotions

Users receive a funny pop-up after a certain number of visits to the website, encouraging audience engagement through newsletter subscriptions, donations, and overheards submissions.

Little callouts every few articles to check out different Street products or sections introduce readers to promoted, new, or overlooked content.

Of course, each pop-up or callout is written in Street lingo.

#authentic #editorial

01. Stakeholder & User Interviews

First, we talked with various company stakeholders about their needs for the website, including business directors, the president, editor-in-chiefs, and the digital managing editor. We also talked to a few Street readers about the process of using the website, asking for their typical flows, pain points, and favorite features.

In addition to this, we reached out to design alumni at The Washington Post to give their impressions and advice regarding the website’s user heuristics and information hierarchy.

〰

Readers

are not able to “stumble upon” interesting content when perusing the website, and must come with an article or motive in mind

02. Competitor Analysis & Ideation

After using our conversations to create guiding principles and for the project, we conducted an analysis of other magazines’ websites, focusing on, but not limited to, The Vulture, W Magazine, Cut, and The New Yorker. We weighed the decisions each of these publications made and looked for features or layouts we could integrate for our own objectives.

03. Low-Fidelity Wireframes & Revisions

From these research insights, we began developing different wireframes and solutions. We tested different systems, organizations, and orientations of the website, getting feedback from our initial stakeholder and user groups and blind focus groups.

04. Brand Identity Development

Once the information architecture was mostly finalized, we started to experiment with typography, iconography, and other bespoke aspects of the website. Keeping in mind our guiding principles, we worked to strike a balance between clean, minimalistic layouts and that authentic Street it-factor.

Socials Solution

01. Branded Template

Regular articles have a template style to them, cleaning up the feed while also maintaining some visual variation.

02. Special Editorial Posts

Special editorial sections like Ego of the Week and Overheards are presented differently and draw users in.

Ego of the Week now includes an editorial photoshoot of the highlighted person, while Overheards has been converted to an editorial cartoon-series.

03. Print Promotion

Bespoke promotional graphics are made to promote each print event, alongside launch parties and gatherings that draw outside interest.

Learnings

This was my first experience leading a full-scale brand redesign and my first UI/UX project, making it a significant learning journey. I discovered that design is inherently people- and solution-oriented, requiring empathy for user needs and collaboration at every stage. I also learned that the process is highly iterative—research and testing shaped the redesign in unexpected but meaningful ways. From aligning a holistic vision for the brand to fine-tuning details that enhanced usability, I gained a deeper understanding of how thoughtful design can bridge aesthetics and functionality.

Future Directions

There’s still room to refine and expand the redesign. Future efforts could focus on creating more interactive elements, like dynamic storytelling features or multimedia integration, to better engage readers. Conducting further user testing would also help identify areas for improvement and ensure the platform continues to evolve with audience preferences. Additionally, streamlining the mobile experience could make the design more accessible across devices.

Experience

Redesigning 34th Street’s website was one of the most rewarding experiences of my time with the magazine. It wasn’t just about creating a modern platform—it was about preserving the heart of what makes Street so special while giving it a fresh new home. This project pushed me to step outside my comfort zone and embrace the challenges of UI/UX design for the first time. I’m so grateful to the incredible team of editors, writers, and designers who trusted me with this vision and supported me every step of the way. Their feedback and collaboration made this a truly meaningful project and reminded me why I love working in spaces where creativity and community intersect.