Holyrood isn't available on newsstands, so I have the luxury of creating captivating, graphic covers with minimal 'sell lines'. I work closely with the editor to capture and illustrate one of the issue's central topics in a way that represents our title’s witty and independent personality.
In 2016, my 'Inequality is a choice' cover was named the Scottish Magazine Awards cover of the year
For our central features, I always start with the story. I believe that good editorial design should be its own kind of visual journalism - telling a story not only parallel to that in the text itself, but also adding to the readers' experience when possible with data visualisation and informative imagery.
I love working on Holyrood's big political interviews, because they're always led by such strong portrait photography. My early background working at photography studios means I really enjoy editing photos, searching for the perfect portraits to express someone's personality, as well as looking for the shots that reveal a certain energy or angle of an interview.
Interviews are also a great opportunity to play with typographic art headlines and colour.
I do love data.... (not so) secretly, I can spend a lot of time luxuriating my way around an excel spreadsheet. Fortunately, in politics and the public sector, there is a lot of data to illustrate. Especially when we get keep getting surprise elections and referendums!
In addition to editorial design for the company, I also work on event branding and company branding across a range of materials.
At Holyrood, I'm fortunate to get to commission a limited amount of professional photography and original illustration to accompany our features and drive our strong covers. It's always a pleasure working with talented artists.
Rob Grasso Illustration
Nick Grigg Photography
