Editorial Design

This project involved designing a fun, quirky travel guide for one of three states: Alabama, Idaho, or Vermont. I chose Alabama, as I had previously visited on a family trip and was familiar with several of the locations featured. While we were provided with base copy for the guide, I expanded upon it through additional research for each section and destination in order to create a more immersive and complete travel guide experience.

Many traditional travel guides tend to be highly factual but lack visual excitement or personality. My goal was to create a guide that captured the playful tone of the copy while reflecting my own experience of Alabama as lighthearted, welcoming, and fun. To achieve this, I designed the guide in a scrapbook-style format, incorporating Polaroid-inspired imagery and sticker elements throughout the pages.

The guide also features expressive typography and bright, summery colors to further reinforce the brand’s sense of fun and quirkiness. This approach resulted in a guidebook that felt both engaging and authentic, ultimately doubling the original amount of content. This expansion felt appropriate and realistic for a fully realized, real-world travel guide. The final mockup also includes all three state covers designed in the same visual style, demonstrating how this branding system could extend across the full series.