Daily Beast Obsessed

Project Overview

The Daily Beast isn't your run-of-the-mill media outlet. The opportunity to differentiate and elevate the editorial voice behind the highly successful Obsessed email arose and a new project was born.

As people spend an increasing amount of time at home watching shows, the goal was to provide readers with a Beasty perspective on what shows are worth watching and which ones to skip. With this in mind, the team set out to create a site within a site, featuring curated content that would both amplify their voice and provide a valuable resource for readers.

Challenges

The Task: create design specifications for the entertainment mini-site within a tight timeframe and align with the expectations of executives, the business, and editorial stakeholders.
The Scope: included on-site elements such as navigation, article templates, footers, wrap pages, the homepage, apps, and a new page with required grid alterations.
The Follow Through : branding expansions including social and newsletters while balancing quality assurance efforts during the mini-site's development.

Start Simple to Communicate more Effectively while Editing more Efficiently

Start with a high-level view of the project

Encourage stakeholder participation in the design process

Rudimentary wires allowed for editorial, sales, programatic, product and engineering to have clear conversions that would help ensure team progression and bring underlying assumptions to light. Early advertising skin offering work led to a day one launch partner.

How does the grid work with sidebar skins?
How many stories will be produced?
What components can we reuse while still differentiating?

Interviewing Stakeholders Illuminated Goals from all across the Business

“Should be Beast Loud but Differentiated”
“Shades of Whimsy”

Introducing Pop Art
to Tabloid

The Beast’s Editorial, Marketing and Product Designers are industry leaders. The color palette gave guidance while removing strict brand rules interference.