The Economist - Longform story telling

The Economist essays were launched in Feb 2014 as the paperʼs original digital first and fully responsive product.
After extensive design exploration I conceptualised a longform article experience. Designing a specific look and feel for the product, that maintained the editorial brand, but developed the article experience to be more immersive and modern. With components to better tell the story and engage the reader through a large amount of prose, we saw longer dwell times and scroll depth, plus increased social sharing.

This design was then interpreted for the essay pages in the print edition to make a cohesive experience over all platforms.
All components were designed and built responsively, and I was responsible for working on all areas of design including interactives, infographics and navigation widgets. Most importantly we started the change to work in a hybrid team of designers, developers, and journalists. Working collaboratively from concept to build proved creative and very productive. Our approach here was modular, with a view to using this project as a test bed for new components that could then be reused and iterated upon across the site.

Components designed and created for essays such as the timeline interactive have gone on to be used and iterated upon elsewhere on the site.

Whatʼs gone wrong with democracy
The slumps that shaped modern finance
The future of the book
The Mekong: Essay and soundscape
A planet of suburbs