Re-introducing an Iconic Publishing Brand
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Nylon.com1
Background
A long history of collaboration.
Bustle Digital Group has been in the business of acquiring publications, and Code and Theory has been an integral partner in helping them grow their portfolio and rethink modern digital storytelling over a multi-year engagement.
Our work began in 2016 by partnering with long-time collaborator Joshua Topolsky to create The Outline, which made waves for its unconventional storytelling systems and the advent of the card system. The publication was acquired by BDG in 2019, along with Inverse, a science fiction and entertainment site, and Topolsky’s idea to create Input, a new consumer technology site. Iterating on the Outline’s card system, we launched Input and Inverse with an improved card system for new types of stories.
Introducing the new Nylon, the latest launch in our partnership with Topolsky and BDG.
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Approach
We leveraged the card system foundation we’d developed for BDG over the years but 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.
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Solution
A unique visual identity that reflects Nylon’s audience and editorial intent.
Nylon attracts a predominantly female audience, focusing more on music, entertainment, beauty, and lifestyle. This new audience, and therefore new topics, meant we had to generate novel card types and design motifs, such as horoscopes, Q&A, and e-commerce. Digital Issue Hubs and long-form article pages support Nylon’s content calendars: monthly issues, cover shoots, and sit-down interviews.
Nylon is about discovering the next big thing in entertainment and music. Our design brings to life grungy textures, graphical references like music festival posters, hand-written graphics, and bold energetic typography. The grid and scale of elements reflects the slower publishing pace with large imagery and expressive type.
