Savills: Alba 2023
How do you reimagine a flagship print magazine for the digital age?
Alba is a huge cross-sector project, bringing together stories from across Scotland and beyond.
I was commissioned to reimagine this flagship publication as a digital experience. From end to end, I led the creative direction, production and promotion of Alba 2023. I managed a wide-range of internal stakeholders at Savills, including research teams, designers, and estate agents, and external contributors, including small business owners and writers.
Most features were written by freelance journalists, and I worked closely with contributors across the business to commission, brief, and develop their pieces. I also conducted interviews myself and wrote all the editorial glue: the section blurbs and intro copy that guided readers through the stories. Perhaps the most fun was on the promotion side: I designed all social media assets and the content plan, using video wherever possible to lean-in the visual language of the publication.
Overall, it was a huge success (if I do say so myself). Every subsequent edition has re-used the format we created in 2023.
“The magazine really does look very good”
Designer Sarah McCallum (who did a fantastic job) brought the whole thing to life visually. The result was a beautifully crafted, mobile-friendly publication with a clear visual identity, easy navigation and interactive elements throughout.
Feedback across the business was incredibly positive. One team described it as “miles ahead of previous publications”. I also heard that the publication had sparked new ideas across the company, with several elements reused for other projects, and encouraged other to explore more creative and interactive ways to tell stories and engage their audience.