NYLON

Code and Theory’s site for this fashion and entertainment editorial features a permutative card design that accounts for all kinds of articles.

Originally published on Communication Arts

Background: Established in 1999, NYLON lives at the intersection of fashion, entertainment and music. With its bold tone and colorful aesthetic, NYLON is the go-to source for the young, stylish and culture obsessed. The brand has always celebrated an electric mix of emerging voices and underground talent; through this launch, it is empowering and connecting the next generation of trend setters.

BDG acquired NYLON—along with other media brands—in 2019, which started our partnership together. The company was looking to elevate the overall aesthetic and user experience across several of its sites. For NYLON specifically, we wanted to acknowledge the brand’s continued relationship with music and fashion, which is realized through various effects and techniques you see throughout the site.

Favorite details: We leveraged the proprietary card-stories mechanism and took a unique design approach. We started with a toolkit of typographies, color schemes and image treatments. Multiply that by different card types and layout variations, and there are hundreds of permutations of how a single card can look. The card is the foundation of every story and is highly flexible for the story it needs to tell. The story determines the presentation—not the other way around.

Challenges: Our work began in 2016 with our long-time collaborator Joshua Topolsky (editor-in-chief of culture and innovation at BDG) for the development of a site with unconventional storytelling systems and the advent of the card system. While so much of the second half of this process was virtual brainstorms and feedback, it challenged us to work with partners in new and more effective ways.

Time constraints: We needed to work quickly and efficiently to launch NYLON. We partnered closely with BDG’s product and engineering team to ensure that we could design, iterate and develop in a seamless cadence of rolling reviews and approvals.

Technology: The proprietary custom Content Management System and ad platform was built to allow editors to curate the visual identities of stories and write them simultaneously, creating powerful and focused content. The highly flexible, yet bespoke, system also allows for BDG to quickly onboard and launch more brands with ease.