Creative Direction: Quanta Magazine
Direction & Design • Quanta Magazine • 2014-2022
2014: The original design before I joined Quanta Magazine. I became the fifth team member and sole art staff: Visual Designer, Producer and Art Director. 2016: Designed a reskin of the website. 2017: Directed a full rebranding with Dog Studio & Barrel NYC.
FOR
Quanta Magazine
WORK
Art / creative direction, illustration, graphic / visual design, photography, animation, writing, production & basic front-end dev
INFO
Quanta (est. 2012) is a free, non-profit, online magazine covering news in basic science and mathematics.
As the publication's first official Art Director, from 2014 through 2021:
- In close collaboration with the team, I developed and shepherded the publication’s visual identity and processes.
- Conceptualized, researched, directed and sometimes created visuals (illustration, photography, animation, graphics, interactives, video) for hundreds of articles.
- Introduced the use of interactive, real-time 3D illustrations & graphics.
- Designed and directed all digital & print materials.
- Hired and guided creative / production staff and freelancers.
- Developed and improved hiring, contracts, and other organizational practices.
- Wrote / art-directed / produced an article about botanical species and DNA.
- Contributed to a number of team achievements including Webbies and a National Magazine Award for General Excellence. One of the final stories I art-directed and co-produced in 2021 was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting, to the staff of Quanta Magazine, notably Natalie Wolchover.
Artists looking to send portfolios / others requesting permission for visuals: I'm no longer at Quanta. Please check here for contact info.
"What men are poets who can speak of Jupiter if he were like a man, but if he is an immense spinning sphere of methane and ammonia must be silent?"
Richard P. Feynman
© Olena Shmahalo