Designer Tribute Zine
An eight-page zine and accompanying poster exploring designer Jonathan Castro's visual language through iridescent liquid artwork, expressive lettering, and restrained black typography.
- Deliverables
- Eight-page folded zine, quote poster
This project examines Jonathan Castro's design practice and the visual qualities that make his work distinctive. I wanted the publication to reflect the energy of his imagery while maintaining a clear editorial structure for the written content.
The design balances fluid, colorful artwork with simpler typography, allowing the imagery to carry the atmosphere without making the information difficult to follow.
- Research into Jonathan Castro's work
- Written biographical and conceptual content
- Visual references and layout studies
- Eight-page folded zine
- Quote poster
Looking closely at Jonathan Castro
I studied his work to see what makes it his: vibrant color, chaotic compositions and references pulled from his Latin culture. Chrome-edged letters, gradient blends and layered pages kept showing up, so I used them as a starting point for the zine.
Working out the layout
Five sheets of sketches tested how the zine could unfold across eight folded pages. The color moved from violet and teal to orange and black to plain black and white, and each spread layered a little more than the last.
Piles of process and meaning.
The concept came together as layers building on layers. The zine builds page by page, and the poster boils the same idea down to one statement.
My early sheets went all gradient, the way Castro's own work does, and it read as imitation. In the final, the liquid color lives inside the zine and the cover is black, with plain type so the words have somewhere to land. The yellow highlight is the one flat color in the layout, so the eye goes there first.
