Haute Magazine is the University of Southern California’s largest student-run magazine. As Creative Director of its ninth and tenth issues, I led a team of 80 designers, marketers, writers, videographers, and photographers in production, overseeing everything from editorial design to social strategy (reaching an audience of 50,000) to the production of two 500-person launch events.
Under my leadership, readership grew by 50%, from 600K to 900K, and Haute earned national recognition as a finalist for the Associated Collegiate Press's Design of the Year.
Under my leadership, readership grew by 50%, from 600K to 900K, and Haute earned national recognition as a finalist for the Associated Collegiate Press's Design of the Year.
Role
Creative Director
Impact
50% Boost in Readership
Creative Director
Impact
50% Boost in Readership
Previously
Director of Design, Asst. Director of Design
Recognition
Finalist for ACP Design of the Year
Director of Design, Asst. Director of Design
Recognition
Finalist for ACP Design of the Year
I inherited Haute at a turning point in its history. With its founding generation newly moved on, I saw its next issue as an opportunity to honor its transition while reflecting on the broader forces shaping our world.
So we created Limbo: a 376-page exploration of “the space between.” Released at a time of global unrest, rapid technologization, and digital burnout, the issue blurred the edges of stability and chaos, connection and isolation, fear and exhilaration. It was Haute’s most ambitious issue to date, featuring collaborations with Offset, The 1975, and Liquid Death, and brought to life by a record-breaking 80 artists, writers, and visionaries.
So we created Limbo: a 376-page exploration of “the space between.” Released at a time of global unrest, rapid technologization, and digital burnout, the issue blurred the edges of stability and chaos, connection and isolation, fear and exhilaration. It was Haute’s most ambitious issue to date, featuring collaborations with Offset, The 1975, and Liquid Death, and brought to life by a record-breaking 80 artists, writers, and visionaries.
While Limbo drew inspiration from the world beyond, my second issue as Creative Director turned inward. To honor Haute’s tenth anniversary, we traveled back through Haute’s history, where we found a common thread: love.
Of the four ancient Greek words for love, “philia” means “friendship,” but today, it connotes “obsession.” Are love and obsession one and the same, or must they exist for each other?
To answer this question, we produced Philia. This tenth issue reflects on the foundational passion (or perhaps obsession) for the arts that birthed Haute five years prior. Philia traces love’s manifestations over time, examines Haute’s evolving place in USC’s creative landscape, and celebrates the relentless creativity that has forms the magazine’s legacy.
Of the four ancient Greek words for love, “philia” means “friendship,” but today, it connotes “obsession.” Are love and obsession one and the same, or must they exist for each other?
To answer this question, we produced Philia. This tenth issue reflects on the foundational passion (or perhaps obsession) for the arts that birthed Haute five years prior. Philia traces love’s manifestations over time, examines Haute’s evolving place in USC’s creative landscape, and celebrates the relentless creativity that has forms the magazine’s legacy.
