As managing editor of City Weekend, a biweekly English-language magazine in Beijing with a distribution of 60,000, I worked with staff editors, freelancers, photographers and designers to produce a 76-page issue every two weeks. In addition to planning all content, I also art directed the covers. These are a few of my favorites.
We photographed model Ya Dong and kitten Evelyn at the International Center for Veterinary Services for our November 2014 cover story on animal adoption in Beijing. Evelyn was adopted within a day of the magazine hitting stands. (Quite a few people reached out about Ya Dong’s availability as well.) Shoot direction by Caroline Killmer, photography by Taozi, story by Lisa Gay.
Designer Gao Junqiang, photographer Joy Hua and illustrator Xiao Xin transformed my comically rough sketch into a June 2014 cover capturing some of the many emotions interviewees expressed about the challenges and perks of having a child in Beijing. Story by Lisa Gay.
For City Weekend’s June 2015 bar awards cover story, we photographed award-winner Douglas Williams crafting a beautiful cocktail at his establishment, Bottle-Boot-Cigar (BBC). Art direction by Caroline Killmer, photography by Taozi and Joy Hua, layout by Gao Junqiang.
Illustrator Xiao Xin created this Beijing map for an August 2015 story on the less-visited districts of Beijing and the treasures they hold. Art direction by Caroline Killmer, layout by Gao Junqiang. Article written collaboratively by the City Weekend editorial team.
When a person in modern China identifies as a 80后 (“ba ling hou”), it’s more than simply stating the decade in which she was born. The country’s breakneck development means that a person born in the ‘70s had a dramatically different experience growing up than someone born in the ‘90s. Designer Gao Junqiang and photographers Taozi and Joy Hua sourced images of icons from the ‘70s to ‘00s for this cover while also providing critical insight during the concepting process. The result: an illustration capturing the cultural touchstones that define different generations in China for our April 2015 cover story. Written by Brittney Wong.
With flying kicks and cartwheels, Van Yang (L) and Tord Løvdal of Capoeira Beijing were the perfect models for our November 2014 cover story on original ways to stay fit in a smoggy city. Photograph by Taozi, written by Katie McGowan.
My Mandarin skills and magazine editorial experience made me the right woman for the job of editing the second annual edition of Seattle Luxury Living, a custom publication of Tiger Oak Media and Seattle magazine.
In addition to more typical responsibilities like story planning, commissioning and editing articles in English, I also worked with translators to strike the right tone for the final Chinese publication. An added challenge involved working with a designer who could not read Chinese to pick appropriate fonts and to structure headlines, captions and body copy in a way that flowed well for native speakers.
See the entire final product here.
