The April 2011 issue of Charleston Magazine

Since I'm sort of an avid gardener, our garden issue is always fun. Not only do I have the opportunity to lay out beautiful features, but I get to steal ideas that I'll soon use in my own yard.

We try to shoot all of our big garden features a year in advance since we have to work on them when it's still winter outside. I sent this awesome photographer back three times so that we could catch several different things in bloom during last year's summer growing season.

The yard and garden were so huge and difficult to get a perspective on that I felt like a map illustration would probably help orient our readers.

Photographs by Peter Frank Edwards
Written by Melissa Bigner

Grand Strand Magazine: Recent Work

After being worked on in another office across the state, recently we brought this title back into our Charleston office fold. The demographics are totally different than Charleston so it's a terrific exercise!

This feature we did on edible landscaping was a bit of a challenge because of the season there was almost nothing to shoot. We added recipes from local Myrtle Beach chefs to make it more interesting and shot a couple of the dishes. Almost ALL of the images are stock. Something not ideal or exclusive, but in this case it made it happen.



And sometimes it starts with a sketch.

Retro Charleston Fashion Feature: Charleston Magazine March 2011

This '70s-inspired fashion shoot shot by Peter Frank Edwards was fun because we got to dig up some retro props. The albums are mine....Ted Nugent on the turn table which we borrowed from a consignment shop. Music played all day at the shoot. And that's my lava lamp in the small inset that usually sits in my office.
Polaroids are to make it feel like someone snapped them then laid them out.


The bottoms of the platform shoes were covered in tape to protect them. Some simple Photoshop work got rid of it. And what a great car that we borrowed from a local guy. A 1973 Buick Centurion.
And the small inset with the roller skates, those belong to an art intern. And if you look closely you can see the trimline phone that we borrowed from a consignment shop.

Recent Work: March 2011 issue of Charleston Magazine

The March issue is all about fashion. Fashion layouts and also getting ready for Charleston Fashion Week March 22-26. This is one of the busiest times for the staff. Not only are we producing magazines but also designing Fashion week posters, tickets, signage, and even giant adhesives for our event tent.

Here are some great shots done by Squire Fox. Readers nominated regular, everyday Charlestonians. Final votes were tallied and here they are.

Some Past Work: The Music Famers Almanac

Found some fun stuff from a few years back. I designed and produced a digest size magazine called The Music Farmers Almanac for a local music venue in downtown Charleston. Each issue was about 32 pages chock full of editorial about bands and concert dates. One of the fun aspects of this particular title was that I designed all of the ads which was a lot of fun. Since the audience was about 21-30 it gave me a lot of freedom to play.

This double page ad won Best of Show at the Addys which was great because there was zero budget and I literally created it in about an hour. My publisher came up with the text and I did the illustrations.


I also did the illustrations for this ad for Arizona Bar & Grill.


Arizona Bar & Grill's new chef's name was Dave. Hence, "Dave on the range."


Just something fun I did with available textures. Some of the floral patterns were from the vest I was wearing that day.

Recent Work: Charleston Magazine December 2010

December is our annual food issue, and it's probably my favorite issues when it comes to designing features. Great food pics and fabulous recipes.

A layout like this can take a while. LOTS of moving parts and only about a week or so to get the design done.








This is from the feature we did with world renowned chef Daniel Balud. Photographs by the awesome Squire Fox.



A couple of spreads from our annual Recipe & Cookoff contest. Four fantastic home chefs from the Charleston area compete in front of a live audience.

Recent Work: Charleston Magazine October 2010

The October issue of Charleston magazine was our first music-themed issue.