creative direction, design
HRC’s Equality Magazine
A quarterly publication (in digital & print) of the Human Rights Campaign, Equality is the largest-circulation LGBTQ+ magazine in the country and offers timely takes on the state of LGBTQ+ issues, personal story features, special Q & As, calls to action and more. I was the design lead for the past several issues, and the artwork I created from a few featured issues is below. My creative process includes issue theme ideation, cover art design, and laying out article text, graphics and ads on HRC’s website.
freedom
summer 2024
I was thrilled to conceptualize and initiate a collaboration with Robyn Kanner and Eric Ziminsky of Studio Mosaic on the summer 2024 cover design for Equality. Both are creative veterans of the Biden-Harris campaign and members of the LGBTQ community. The artwork they created for the cover is a portrait of America — one filled with freedom and hope. Through this work, inspired by American painter Norman Rockwell and iconic newspaper covers from The Saturday Evening Post, we reclaimed what it means to be American, envisioning a brighter future led by Vice President Kamala Harris and a growing crowd of pro-equality candidates across the U.S. As Vice President Harris said, “we choose freedom,” which perfectly encapsulated the historic moment we were in.
Project Team
Robyn Kanner & Eric Ziminsky, Lead Creative/Art Direction/Design - Produced and conceptualized cover art (External to HRC)
Carly Fox, Associate Director of Design - Conceptualized and led project, provided art direction
Robert Villaflor, Senior Design Director
Carolyn Simon, Digital Marketing Consultant (External to HRC)
Lauren Gray, Senior Vice President, Communications & Marketing
At the DNC
HRC had the opportunity to host a booth in the “Creator Space" at the Democratic National Convention in August 2024, where we were able to repurpose this design into a large-scale horizontal format. A separate venue from the main stage, this space in the McCormick Convention Center was designed to allow creators, attendees and elected officials the opportunity to connect on a more personal level and generate content on the ground. Trainings, panels, and other programming called “Dempalooza” were also happening there each day of the convention. We wanted something that felt on-message for the DNC and would pique visual interest from a distance to draw people in. This mural fit the bill perfectly!
HOPE IS ON THE HORIZON
fall 2024
The 2024 election featured some devastating setbacks for people who believe in progressive ideals and full equality for the LGBTQ+ community. But amid that darkness, there are some bright lights of hope.
A NEW ERA FOR HRC
summer 2023
Despite living in a state of emergency, our community continues to stay resilient. We are still coming together, celebrating ourselves and advocating for our rights. It is more important than ever that we join together to send a clear message: We are not going anywhere.
OUR RIGHTS ARE AT STAKE
winter 2024
Across the country, anti-LGBTQ+ legislators are taking their marching orders from extremist groups, and are determined to tell their LGBTQ+ constituents that they should not be seen nor heard, nor even exist.
