Editorial Illustrations

Institutional Investor

These are images I made for feature articles during my time working at Institutional Investor , an online financial magazine. From November of 2022 to May 2024, I was the sole member of the design team in the role of the Art Director. I was in charge of the artwork for the daily editorial posts. Sometimes facilitating it, but mostly creating it.

When I took the role, I aimed to expand on the previously developed art style that using dithered gradients and abstracted financial imagery. I was told the editorial team is open to whatever I had in mind, so I took a look at where they were, at that moment.

The majority of the art for the posts were simple in concept; a downward arrow overlaid on a candlestick graph to show a downtrend in a certain company’s stock. Much of the subject matter for the stories also had a good amount of overlap. I began to ask myself, how can I make this more attractive? After producing a good handful of these images, I began to experiment more with some deeper and nuanced meanings to these somewhat disposable pieces of art. In reading more and more of these articles, I learned more about the jargon, and who people were paying attention to when their stocks choices went up or down. The knowledge I gained over time helped me make more enriching illustrations. I was able to pull metaphors and details out of the story that previously seemed invisible. This period of exploration helped me to develop this style of illustration for these exclusive editorial pieces.

Sometimes we would commission a longer story about a particular aspect of the finance space, or a certain issue that needed to be investigated. In these cases, I would create a tailored illustration that would accompany the story, to give it more of a unique look amongst the typical posts. The fast turnaround time, and admittedly complex subject matter led me to craft an illustration style that was very flat and graphic, while the compositions themselves were borderline surreal. I was trying to make the topics make sense to myself, but also summarize the story’s idea into a scroll-stopping image for the viewer.

I incorporated the dithering texture used by my predecessor into the work through digital brushes, and they became a constant motif throughout my time in the role. Combined with the flat shapes, this aesthetic gave a storybook quality to some otherwise formulaic financial articles.

Okayplayer

From February 2025 to September 2026, I worked as a Graphic Designer at Okayplayer. I did everything from simple photo edits and illustrations, to Motion Graphics

Rediscovered

An editorial series highlighting older albums and what they mean to Okayplayer. I created this animated identity for the albums we covered.

In Her Words

Graphics package made for Women’s History Month

Kendrick vs. Drake

Editorial Illustration

Kendrick vs. Drake - Editorial Illustration