Departures
Content Creative Direction and Strategy for a reimagined Departures - moving from a print magazine to a digitally native lifestyle destination.
visit online at departures.com
As part of a very talented team of people brought on board at T Brand Studios, myself and editor/photographer Skye Parrot led the reimagining of what a future of Departures could be after shifting away from being a print magazine to being a digitally led lifestyle platform. My specific role was that of Creative Director of content.
Our work was led by a brand strategy and identity defined by Giant Spoon with the digital platform being designed and built by Kettle, all of which took into account the three concurrent workstreams.
Spanning nearly four decades, Departures began as a printed magazine that provided American Express Platinum Card® and Centurion® Members with an armchair passport to novel places, people, and ideas.
Our 2021 evolution replaced the bi-monthly magazine with a new digitally native experience that includes a new vision, identity, and editorial approach to capture a new and expanded readership demographic.
More than an editorial platform, Departures is now a prism reflecting all facets of the human journey, refracted through monthly themes and six foundational topics: Arts, Cuisines, Style, Travel, and Wellness.
With vetted, honest insights from a curated collection of contributors, our aspiration was to feed our readers’ curiosity about the world by making every aspect of their lives more inspired.
The T Brand Studio visual team included Annette Lamothe-Ramos as art direction lead as well as Victoria Rosselli as designer whose work contributed to everything shown here.
The creative and content strategy was published into a variety of playbooks and guidelines for everyone contributing to the work in any way—written or visual.
With the new focus as a digital platform we created a space for creative freedom in video titling alongside a system for creating a consistent approach to certain on-screen elements.
© Justin Thomas Kay 2024