A creative at heart with systems based mind. I identify pain points and bottlenecks and build the tools that give creatives time to design more and format less. At Cityview, that means connecting editorial preparation, InDesign, and delivery into one publishing workflow.

The Problem — Creative attention has better uses

The Cityview pages in this portfolio show the creative work. Behind them, I saw a different design problem: too much attention was going into repetitive preparation—identifying story elements, applying paragraph styles, and rebuilding content for its next destination.

Those tasks follow rules. I wanted a workflow that handled those rules consistently, leaving more room for me and other staff to concentrate on work that needs judgment.

The Concept — Design the workflow. Build the tools.

I developed the concept, mapped the process, and built the connected system: staff-facing editorial preparation, an InDesign production plugin, and Orbit for coordinated distribution. My role covered the flowcharts, interaction design, implementation, and integration.

The principle was to make routine work repeatable while keeping editorial choices and skilled design in human hands.

The Reality / Preparation — More people can participate

Staff begin with a Word document or text file and identify the headline, deck, byline, body, and pull quotes through a guided interface. They can prepare structured content without knowing code or InDesign.

The resulting XML package carries those editorial elements and image references into production.

The Reality / Design — Standards first. Craft next.

My Cityview Tools plugin imports that package and connects it to tagged layouts and our production styles. I then handle the design: hierarchy, composition, cropping, pacing, and the details that make each story distinct.

When the layout is ready, the plugin exports XML with images. That is the handoff into Orbit—not a separate workflow that starts from scratch.

The Reality / Orbit — Carry the story forward

Orbit continues the process through a node-based map connecting issue stories to publishing channels: flipbook, web, mobile, WordPress, and subscriber email. It makes content, destinations, and gaps visible in one place.

The same structured story supports different presentations. Channel preparation and previews remain distinct from publication; the system does not assume every destination should release automatically.

The Result — Build the conditions for creative work

I did more than identify a better process: I built the tools and connected the handoffs. The result is a working approach to moving routine preparation out of the design stage and carrying finished content into coordinated publishing.

The case demonstrates the workflow and implementation. Time savings, adoption, and error reduction remain to be measured.

Finishing the magazine layout is only part of publishing it. I built Orbit to connect the stories, images, and destinations that follow, giving the production team one place to see what is ready and what still needs attention.

The Problem — One issue, many destinations

Finished stories may appear in a flipbook, as blog posts, in a mobile reading experience, and in subscriber email. Each destination has its own preparation and presentation needs. When those pieces live across separate folders and tools, understanding the state of an issue becomes another production task.

I wanted to make those relationships visible so staff could find the right content and identify gaps without reconstructing the workflow each time.

The Concept — Give the issue a map

I designed Orbit around a visual map of the publication. Stories connect to the issue and its publishing destinations, bringing content, images, and channel status into the same view.

The approach builds on the specialist tools already in use. Structured editorial content carries forward from production, while Orbit helps coordinate where it goes next.

The Reality — Prepare once, adapt with intention

Staff can inspect a story, locate its media, check which destinations are represented, and open the relevant working surface. An issue checklist makes missing content visible before it is overlooked.

For subscriber email, the workflow supports selecting stories, adjusting their presentation, previewing the result, and exporting HTML or bulk send via API connections. Shared source content supports different formats while leaving room for choices about order, imagery, and emphasis.

Previews and preparation remain separate from publication. A visible destination does not mean content has been released; connected services and release actions are handled explicitly.

The Result — A clearer production picture

Orbit connects the workflow from production through print delivery and online distribution, giving the team a clear view of what is ready and what still needs attention. Early use of the connected workflow indicates approximately 50% less editorial layout time.

I recognized that separate flipbook exports duplicated work already completed for print. Reusing the printer-ready files eliminated an hour of preparation and a three-to-five-day vendor turnaround, with a flipbook preview ready for approval when the issue is complete.