Oldie Magazine – Fei Liao

The Oldie 📖

A virtual Oldie.

‘The Oldie: Buy it before you snuff it,’ says it all. The Oldie is not a magazine about retirement. It’s free-thinking and funny, giving readers a light-hearted alternative to a press obsessed by youth and celebrity. The Oldie has been regarded as a haven for grumpy old men and women, crammed with witty and intelligent mockeries of modern culture. In truth, the magazine isn’t an age-specific publication; it has many readers in their twenties, thirties, and forties. And, at a time when print has been told to snuff it, this print-based publication boasts a circulation of over 45,000.

THE BRIEF

Taking print to digital.

A brand identity that starts with the smiles.

Taking print
to digital.

The brief was to redesign and build a new website that would ensure a fresh new look, that would utilise content to entice readers, and ultimately encourage them to subscribe to the printed publication. Prior to this project, The Oldie had no real online presence, so the biggest challenge was crafting a design that authentically reflected the magazine’s spirit, while on a practical level being a fully CMS website. It was crucial that the site was able to host a huge amount of multimedia contents, including articles, illustrations, podcasts, a tour and event booking system, and an eCommerce shop.

I was asked to develop a new brand identity that reflects Portman Dental groups’s visions and values but talks directly to an younger audience seeking orthodontic treatment. Portman’s vision is to be the best privately focused dental group in the world.

The brief was to redesign and build a new website that would ensure a fresh new look, that would utilise content to entice readers, and ultimately encourage them to subscribe to the printed publication. Prior to this project, The Oldie had no real online presence, so the biggest challenge was crafting a design that authentically reflected the magazine’s spirit, while on a practical level being a fully CMS website. It was crucial that the site was able to host a huge amount of multimedia contents, including articles, illustrations, podcasts, a tour and event booking system, and an eCommerce shop.

THE DESIGN

Finding offline inspiration.

The Oldie barely has a style guide. Aside from the logo, and typeface, the brand didn’t have any formal consistency in guidelines. So, in developing the website’s art direction, I took the inspiration from magazine’s witty style and utilised the brand’s rich bank of illustrations and comics. I crafted a site that uses many illustrations and a simple visual language to reflect the brand, and showcase their journalistic endeavours.

The Oldie barely has a style guide. Aside from the logo, and typeface, the brand didn’t have any formal consistency in guidelines. So, in developing the website’s art direction, I took the inspiration from magazine’s witty style, and utilised the brand’s rich bank of illustrations and comics. I crafted a site that uses many illustrations and a simple visual language to reflect the brand, and showcase their journalistic endeavours.

THE OUTCOME

Classic and cohesive.

Confidence and timelessness is at the heart of The Oldie’s brand. This isn’t the type of publication to rip up a design and start over every six months – its website would need to maintain long-term appeal. I translated this printed magazine into a delightful digital product, with the capacity to be attention-grabbing, simple to navigate and with content that is easy to consume. The result is a classic website with a cohesive visual language.

Confidence and timelessness is at the heart of The Oldie’s brand. This isn’t the type of publication to rip up a design and start over every six months – its website would need to maintain long-term appeal. I translated this printed magazine into a delightful digital product, with the capacity to be attention grabbing, simple to navigate and with content that is easy to consume. The result is a classic website with a cohesive visual language.

THE RESULTS

228%

500

228%

increase in monthly user sessions

appointment requests
in first 3 months

84%

84%+

approval user rating