How can I pull design elements created for Sports Illustrated’s print issues and repurpose them to work for our digital rollout needs?

As a member of the Sports Illustrated design team, I am often tasked with brainstorming what content from our most recent issue would be useful promotion if repurposed for our digital platforms. Working alongside out social team and web editors, we decide what pieces to pull and prepare for social and digital rollouts. From here, I use the design elements created for the print package and create cohesive website and social designs for the stories and sidebars needed for the issue’s digital release.

Editorial design by Stephen Goggi: https://stephengoggi.com/

Assessment & Identification

What stories make the most sense to push digitally (on either our website, social platforms, or both?) What design elements from the issue will best translate to the new platform?

Using factors like story structure, clickthrough ability, and blank the web, social, and design teams work together to identify what digital format best lends itself to the purpose and engagement level of each piece. From there, I take stock of all the design elements used in the print issue for the package and determine what pieces have the most promise for digital use, building out a library I can pull on as the exploration process begins.

Exploration

How do these elements best come together to display the chosen pieces?

Given the assets at hand, I spent a day playing around with a bunch of different template options to build out the remaining pieces needed for the launch date. After making any changes or fulfilling any requests from my Creative Director, we select three options (seen below) to show the other teams for final selection and approval before building out the remaining needed pieces.

Execution

Using these templates as a base, how can the remaining pieces feel varied but still in uniform with the digital styling we’ve settled on?

Below is a roundup of some of the final pieces that were pushed out as part of the rollout. Some of the pieces stood on their own and were only used in one setting, i.e. as an inline photo on a story. Others were utilized throughout multiple digital platforms and needed various sized versions to best meet the quality standards of that platform.