The Situation
UF Health has long published regional newsletters and organizational publications, but as the health system continues to grow, there was a new opportunity: to create a flagship publication capable of telling the integrated story of UF Health's clinical, research and academic missions while bringing the stories of our people, discoveries and patient care to the communities we serve.
Recognizing that opportunity, I championed a vision for transforming The Post into UF Health Magazine—a new systemwide publication designed to better reflect the scale, impact and interconnected nature of the organization. Working closely with communications leadership, managing editors and contributors across the system, I helped shape the magazine from concept to launch, contributing to its strategy, editorial framework, naming, visual identity and overall reader experience.
From the initial proposal through the inaugural issue, I served as both a strategic architect and creative lead, helping establish not only the publication itself, but also a collaborative editorial and creative process that brought together talent from across the UF Health system. The result was more than a new magazine—it was the foundation for a scalable storytelling platform designed to evolve alongside the organization.
The Challenge
Creating a new magazine required far more than a redesign. We needed to establish a clear vision for what the publication should become while building alignment among stakeholders with different perspectives, priorities and areas of expertise.
The challenge included:
• Defining a clear vision for a flagship, systemwide publication
• Building support for the evolution of The Post into UF Health Magazine
• Creating an editorial framework centered on UF Health's tripartite mission
• Designing a publication that balanced strategic storytelling with day-to-day operational realities
• Developing a scalable creative and editorial framework capable of supporting future issues
• Establishing a collaborative process that engaged writers, editors, photographers and
designers from across the organization
• Creating a publication that could live seamlessly across both print and digital experiences
• Building support for the evolution of The Post into UF Health Magazine
• Creating an editorial framework centered on UF Health's tripartite mission
• Designing a publication that balanced strategic storytelling with day-to-day operational realities
• Developing a scalable creative and editorial framework capable of supporting future issues
• Establishing a collaborative process that engaged writers, editors, photographers and
designers from across the organization
• Creating a publication that could live seamlessly across both print and digital experiences
Ultimately, the goal wasn't simply to launch a new magazine. It was to create a collaborative storytelling platform that helped readers experience UF Health not as a collection of hospitals, colleges and programs, but as one connected academic health system working toward a common mission.
Strategic Approach
Working alongside communications leadership and managing editors, I helped shape the vision and strategic framework for a new flagship publication built around the organization's tripartite mission of patient care, research and education. My role extended beyond creative direction to helping define how stories would be organized, experienced and connected across both print and digital platforms.
One of my primary goals was to ensure the publication reflected the collaborative nature of our growing health system—not only through the stories it told, but through the way it was created. I was inspired in part by the collaborative production model long used by our UF College of Medicine communications team for *Florida Physician*, where multiple designers contribute to a shared publication while working within a unified design system. Building on that successful approach, I expanded the model beyond a single communications team to include writers, editors, photographers and designers from across every UF Health region, creating what became a truly enterprise-wide creative effort. The result was a publication that represented the collective voice and creative talent of UF Health.
This collaborative philosophy influenced every aspect of the magazine, from its name, positioning and editorial structure to its visual language, navigation and reader experience. I helped reimagine the table of contents around our tripartite mission rather than individual articles, established recurring content sections designed to create familiarity from issue to issue and developed a flexible visual framework capable of supporting both long-form storytelling and future growth.
Rather than simply launching a new publication, we established a scalable storytelling platform—one designed to evolve alongside the organization while creating stronger connections between our people, our missions and the communities we serve.
Execution
As Art Director and lead designer for the inaugural issue, I established the publication's visual language and led its creative development from concept through production. Beyond designing the magazine itself, I worked closely with editorial leadership to shape the reader experience, guide production planning and ensure the publication reflected the integrated story of the UF Health system.
My Contributions
• Publication strategy and creative leadership
• Art direction and lead publication design
• Naming, tagline and editorial positioning
• Cover concept development and cover-line writing
• Publication architecture and layout system
• Section structure and tripartite mission framework
• Typography and visual standards
• Style guide development for collaborating designers
• Collaboration with writers, editors and photographers
• Production planning and creative coordination
• Executive presentations and stakeholder guidance
• Ongoing strategic partnership throughout editorial development
• Publication strategy and creative leadership
• Art direction and lead publication design
• Naming, tagline and editorial positioning
• Cover concept development and cover-line writing
• Publication architecture and layout system
• Section structure and tripartite mission framework
• Typography and visual standards
• Style guide development for collaborating designers
• Collaboration with writers, editors and photographers
• Production planning and creative coordination
• Executive presentations and stakeholder guidance
• Ongoing strategic partnership throughout editorial development
Rather than designing every page myself, I developed the publication's creative framework, visual standards and style guide so designers from across our communications division could contribute while maintaining a cohesive visual identity. This approach not only strengthened the publication itself, but also created opportunities for designers who rarely worked on large-scale editorial projects to expand their publication design experience and contribute to a shared enterprise publication.
The magazine became a collaborative effort across regions, bringing together the talents of writers, editors, photographers and designers throughout the UF Health system. The feature stories shown below, including the student-led physical therapy clinic, COVID-19 mRNA vaccine research and glioblastoma feature, as well as much of the back-of-book news section, were designed by members of our broader creative team. Their contributions reinforced the publication's purpose as a truly systemwide magazine, reflecting the expertise and perspectives of colleagues across the organization.
Extending the Reader Experience Online
Recognizing that today's audiences engage with content in different ways, we wanted the magazine to extend beyond the printed page. In addition to developing the publication's visual framework and designing the 20-page cover feature, I also led the development of the magazine's digital experience.
Working within UF Health's WordPress-based publishing platform, I designed the overall interface and information architecture to complement the print publication while taking advantage of the flexibility offered by a digital format. Stories could be discovered through the magazine's featured landing page or browsed by section through a simplified navigation, giving readers multiple paths to explore content based on their interests.
The digital magazine also allowed us to expand the storytelling experience through supplemental photography, videos and additional content that couldn't be accommodated within the printed publication. To seamlessly connect the two experiences, every story in the print magazine includes a QR code that takes readers directly to its online counterpart, where they can continue exploring related stories and multimedia content.
Just as the print publication was intentionally collaborative, the digital magazine was as well. While I designed the overall interface and built the 20-page, multi-story cover feature, each designer also developed the digital version of the stories they designed for print. This approach not only maintained the creative integrity of each story but also allowed every designer to participate fully in shaping the reader's experience across both print and digital platforms.
Below is a prototype of the site but to visit the live site please visit: https://ufh-magazine.sites.medinfo.ufl.edu/
Below is a prototype of the site but to visit the live site please visit: https://ufh-magazine.sites.medinfo.ufl.edu/
Impact
The inaugural issue established a new foundation for how UF Health tells its story.
More than introducing a new publication, it redefined how our clinical, research and academic missions could be woven together into a cohesive narrative that reflected the breadth of our organization. The editorial framework, visual system and collaborative creative process established for the inaugural issue continue to provide a foundation for future editions.
Beyond the publication itself, the project strengthened collaboration across our communications division. By intentionally bringing together writers, editors, photographers and designers from multiple regions, the magazine fostered new creative relationships, expanded publication design experience across our team and reinforced a shared sense of ownership in telling the UF Health story.
What began as an effort to evolve a newsletter ultimately became a platform for enterprise storytelling—one designed to grow alongside the organization while showcasing the collective talent of the people behind it
Why This Project Matters
This project represents the intersection of strategy, storytelling and creative leadership and collaboration.
While the magazine itself is a tangible outcome, the greater accomplishment was helping transform an idea into a sustainable enterprise publication. One designed not only to tell the story of UF Health, but to strengthen the relationships between the people telling it.
From developing the original vision and publication strategy to guiding editorial direction, building collaborative creative processes and establishing systems that future issues can build upon, the project demonstrates how creative leadership extends far beyond design. It is about creating the structure, culture and shared vision that enable great work to happen at scale.