Mental Floss
I redesigned Mental Floss’s overall visual brand identity by coordinating with company founders, web editor-in-chief, and marketing director—this included updating logos, marketing materials, social media, and the website.
Date:
Dec 2017 – Aug 2018
Position:
Creative Director
My Role:
Art Direction, Illustration, Social Media, Branding, Graphics Design, and Visual Design
Mentalfloss.com Redesign
Redesigning mentalfloss.com was a large part of rebranding the company as a whole. The website needed to encompass a modern feel and elements of the newly redesign print magazine. Working with our head UX designer, we set out to maintain components users loved (like the Amazing Fact Generator) while making space for social media, sponsored content, and a new hub for our video channel.
Primary navigation was kept minimal with a carousel feature to showcase multiple daily stories.
Secondary navigation gives users a more extensive dropdown menu of sections, articles, and sponsored content.
A responsive site that allowed for three break points that accommodated short and long article lengths, plus videos.
Stakeholders required a place for editorial content and supported articles—while keeping a top block for daily stories.
Logo Redesign
The logo initially all lowercase with an underscore between the two words. A holdover from the primary print product, I was tasked with updating the branding company-wide. This incarnation would need to sit just as comfortably on letterhead, business cards, marketing material, and social media. The primary logo took on all caps with custom altered M and F letters. In contrast, the social media logo was condensed and reversed out, aiding in legibility on phones or desktops.
Redesigned Social Media Logo
Social Media Revamp
I implemented cohesive branding for its social media, including Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube. I built a custom design with intersecting objects, representing the varied aspects of Mental Floss content that became the background. I also redesigned the Instagram feed and stories for a consistent and modern vision.
Color Palette Guide
For the rebranding, I worked with stakeholders to build a color palette that translated onscreen and off. I choose colors for the brand's significant points, including video, quizzes, and the new shopping section.
The primary color, Clambake, was used on the homepage for the primary logo and marketing materials and video bumpers.
Three central breakdowns: web, marketing, and third-party vendors allowed us to have a cohesive color scheme that would flow within the company. A separate video palette provides for two primary colors depending on the topic and type of video composed.