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Websites
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Follow Button
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Newsletter System
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Systems
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Newsletter Landing Pages
Hearst Newspapers:
From No System to Measurable Growth
When we came in, there was no design structure at Hearst's network of newsrooms. Work was created ad hoc, in silos. There was no strategy behind it, no marketing calendar. Some assets had been reused for over a decade without a refresh. Each newsroom also needed to hold onto its own market identity while still being recognizably part of the same network, and nothing in place made that possible at scale.
What we did
We built a marketing-focused design system first. A defined visual look and feel that could be executed quickly and consistently, flexible enough that individual markets kept their own identity, structured enough that a sale event or time-sensitive campaign could move from concept to execution fast instead of starting from zero every time.
Once that foundation existed, we led design and creative strategy across Hearst's enterprise digital platforms. We aligned brand, UX, editorial, and business objectives, directed the rollout of a unified, WCAG-accessible design system, and built and mentored a multidisciplinary design team. We partnered directly with product, engineering, analytics, and executive leadership. Creative decisions got backed by user research, usability testing, A/B testing, and performance data instead of instinct.
What changed
The system built to solve a basic execution problem became the foundation for real business results. Subscription growth initiatives built on that foundation captured 80,000+ email leads and 1,000 new subscribers, and won recognition at the INMA Global Media Awards in 2024. Design stopped being a bottleneck and started driving revenue.