Lonely Planet: Featured Story Concept
Powerful visual storytelling
Powerful visual storytelling
Powerful visual storytelling
Lonely Planet offers a large variety of digital content for their readers, spanning from news-related content to engaging featured stories that focus on the story and the storyteller. In this concept, I wanted to explore what a new layout could look like for a featured story that leverages modern editorial design elements.
Lonely Planet offers a large variety of digital content for their readers, spanning from news-related content to engaging featured stories that focus on the story and the storyteller. In this concept, I wanted to explore what a new layout could look like for a featured story that leverages modern editorial design elements.
Lonely Planet offers a large variety of digital content for their readers, spanning from news-related content to engaging featured stories that focus on the story and the storyteller. In this concept, I wanted to explore what a new layout could look like for a featured story that leverages modern editorial design elements.
Concept approach
The current state of featured stories on the platform lacks the visual impact necessary to captivate users and encourage engagement (below). The basic editorial layout fails to leverage the power of modern design aesthetics and interesting visual treatments. The goal of this concept was to create a more captivating and visually appealing experience that will increase engagement, decrease bounce rate, encourage sharing, and entice visitors to return.
Designing the concepts
Above, on the left, shows the current template the Editorial team uses for their stories. And on the right is my concept that elevates the featured story and makes it more visually enticing. The centerpiece of my solution is the integration of large and immersive photography, allowing users to truly immerse themselves in the story. The captivating images will be complemented by bold, punched-out typography, which will add a touch of beauty and draw the user's eye to the content.
The conclusion
This case study highlights the need to spend more time on Lonely Planet's flagship, evergreen featured stories as the design better supports the amazing stories the authors are wanting to tell. Although the team decided to invest resources on some other short-term projects, the concept provided inspiration and kicked off discussions on resourcing this initiative at a later time.
