Wild Wonders Magazine

Sharing our wonderful world with animals

12 weeks | Student Project

Objective

In a world filled with alarming news about the environment, how might we inspire young adults to become stewards of the natural world?

Details

For tweens and teens, hearing about the environment can be confusing and discouraging. Wild Wonders is a quarterly published magazine that focuses on telling real stories about animals, the latest wildlife research, and the people making a difference in the field of conservation. Each issue is filled with articles, illustrations, photography, and activities designed to educate and inspire.

Role

Art Direction
Editorial Design
Brand Identity
Illustration
Production

Tools

InDesign
Illustrator
Photoshop
Fresco (iPad)

“

There’s something missing about how we’re informing the youngsters coming along about what matters in the world. We teach them the numbers and the letters, but we fail to communicate the importance of our connection to the living world.

— SYLVIA EARLE, AMERICAN OCEANOGRAPHER AND EXPLORER

Design

Magazine

I curated content and photos from wildlife and sciences organizations and created custom illustrations and layouts to create a 48-page magazine and cover. Enjoy!

Printed quarterly, each issue explores 2-3 animal categories and includes interviews, research, stories, animal profiles, activities, and more.

Research

Context

While animals are popular in print and digital media for kids, the content of many existing magazines about animals may feel too childish for tweens and teens. In middle school, their science classes are teaching complex topics such as cell biology and ecosystem types. To build on this curriculum, Wild Wonders contains real stories, facts, and research about animals.

Research & Insights

I interviewed an environmental educator who works with adolescents to get a better idea of the pain points they may have when learning about science. Some concepts can be dry for young minds, so it was recommended to include a variety of different article types, illustrations, and activities for better engagement. However, it was also important not to discount the intelligence and learning capabilities of tweens and teens. I curated articles and created supplemental content with this in mind.

Personas

Lizzy, Age 9

Middle School Student

About: Lizzy’s grandparents bought her a year long subscription to Wild Wonders because she is always interested in finding animals around their backyard and they want to encourage her curiosity.

Favorite TV show is the Wild Kratts (PBS)
Received a one-year subscription to Wild Wonders as a gift
Has a short attention span

Likes: Loves looking through the images, trying the activities, and telling her friends cool animal facts.

Favorite animal: Penguin

Sabine, Age 13

Middle School Student

About: Sabine is in middle school and loves animals. In addition to their two dogs and a cat, her parents let her get a pair of guinea pigs, a fish tank, and a turtle as long as she takes care of them herself. Sabine wants to be a veterinarian or work with animals someday.

Earns money baby-sitting her younger brothers
Is a bookworm and loves to read
Wants to work with animals when she is older

Likes: Reading about people with animal jobs, learning more about different animals, and doing activities with her younger brothers.

Favorite animal: Green Sea Turtle

Marcos, Age 33

Middle School Science Teacher

About: Marcos is a middle school science teacher in California. He has always loved the outdoors and has a soft-spot for all living things. He loves to teach science since there are so many amazing things to share with his students.

Pays for the magazine himself and keeps issues in his classroom for students to read
Fell in love with teaching after working at a zoo summer camp
Goes hiking on the weekends

Likes: Interested in animal research and using the activities and content as inspiration for his lesson plans.

Favorite animal: His adorable mutt Franklin

Process

Masthead

The word mark for Wild Wonders is designed to position the brand as educational, fun, and approachable. Touches of playfulness have been added to appeal to tweens and teens.

Typography

Avenir Next was chosen as an easy-to-read body text to convey educational content without feeling like a textbook. Meanwhile, each article opens with unique headline typography that matches the article's content and conveys tone to draw young readers in.

Color

Colors inspired by the ocean, sky, and land are used throughout Wild Wonders as backgrounds, graphic elements, patterns, and typography. They are the backdrop for the photographic and illustrated imagery.

Layout

Designed for easy reading, text is limited to one to two columns.

Illustration

Illustrations are colorful, playful, and textured. The style is consistent and unique to Wild Wonders for a cohesive experience. Illustrations are used as spot images within articles, as dynamic elements that layer over the margins of text frames, or as full-bleed spreads with backgrounds to fully immerse readers.

Photography

Photography is used to ground content in reality and create connections by showing that the stories and research are about real animals and people. Photos may be of animals, people, or environments, and are meant to feel organic. They should never feel staged or heavily stylized.

Equipped with knowledge and a sense of wonder, Wild Wonders believes the next generation will be ready to face ecological challenges with open minds and look for creative solutions to better share our wonderful world with animals.

Wild Wonders Magazine

Objective

Details

Role

Tools

Design

Magazine

Masthead

Typography

Color

Illustration

Photography

Research

Context

Research & Insights

Personas

Lizzy, Age 9

Sabine, Age 13

Marcos, Age 33

Process

Masthead

Typography

Color

Layout

Illustration

Photography

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