Cadence Magazine
100 Years of Influential Women in Music
A collaborative magazine design project exploring layout, typography, and print production. Created in partnership with Aubrey Zimmerman, celebrating the groundbreaking women who shaped music history.
Tools Used
The Challenge
Design and produce a full magazine from concept to print, working with editorial layouts, and typography systems. Collaborate with another designer to create a cohesive visual identity.
The Solution
A celebration of 100 years of women in music, featuring layouts that evolved throughout the magazine. Bold decade openers, genre features, and artist spotlights were unified through a cohesive color palette and typography system.
Research & Content Strategy
Extensive research into 100 years of women's contributions to music across genres, eras, and cultures
Genres Explored
Historical Impact
Identified key figures, pivotal moments, and cultural shifts that shaped the musical landscape
Cultural Significance
Honored both well-known icons and overlooked pioneers who transformed music history
Typography & Layout Systems
Systematic Design Approach
We built typography and layout systems that needed to work across different content types including big photo spreads, dense text articles, and bold decade openers. The tricky part was making sure everything still felt like part of the same magazine even when designing different sections independently.
Collaborative Design Process
Design Partnership
Worked with Aubrey Zimmerman to divide responsibilities, figure out a shared visual system, and play to each designer's strengths.
Style Consistency
Created shared style guides and design systems early on to allow us to work independently. Regular check-ins ensured we stayed aligned.
Print Production
Researched and experimented with print specifications to ensure our designs translated well to physical form.
Featured Spreads
Decade Overview Spreads
Large-scale decade openers featuring bold typography and historical context to introduce each era of music history.
Early Era: 1920s-1960s
Modern Era: 1970s-2020s
Genre & Artist Feature Spreads
Integrated layouts exploring specific music genres alongside the pioneering women who defined them—from Jazz and Blues to Hip-Hop and Indie.
Classic Genres
Contemporary Genres
Key Takeaways
This project was a lesson in working collaboratively with another designer to create a cohesive final product, and how to prepare files for print production instead of focusing solely on digital design. It strengthened my knowledge of technical skills while also being an exercise in working closely with another designer.
Editorial Design Skills
Typography systems, grid structures, and layout principles across different content types
Collaboration
Learned how to divide work, stay aligned, and give/take feedback effectively
Print Production
Gained knowledge of print production processes and preparing files for print