Lead Product Designer
Led the end-to-end redesign of Health.com and creation of its digital platform guide, unifying the brand’s online and print identities within Meredith’s large-scale design system post–Time Inc. acquisition.
Overview
Role: Lead Product Designer
Timeline: 2018–2019
Focus: Leading the end-to-end redesign of Health.com and the development of its digital platform guide to unify brand identity and establish design consistency across Meredith’s 40+ brands.
Following Meredith Corporation’s acquisition of Time Inc., all legacy brands needed to migrate to a unified digital design system known as the Platform Guide—a large-scale, white-label framework built on atomic design principles.
Health.com was among the first brands to undergo this transformation. While the Health print magazine had recently evolved its editorial aesthetic, the digital experience lagged behind, resulting in visual and experiential misalignment.
As Lead Product Designer, I spearheaded the redesign of Health.com from discovery to delivery—defining the design direction, building a comprehensive platform guide, and leading collaboration with editors, developers, and senior design leadership. The result was a modernized digital experience that not only brought Health.com in line with its print counterpart but also established a scalable framework for future brand migrations across Meredith’s ecosystem.
Problem
My initial evaluation revealed two primary challenges that guided the project direction:
1. Brand misalignment:
Health.com’s digital experience no longer reflected the magazine’s modern editorial tone or visual sophistication. Inconsistent typography, color usage, and layout created a fragmented brand presence across channels.
2. Platform migration complexity:
Following the Time Inc. acquisition, each brand had to be rebuilt within a shared design system. For Health.com, this meant not only executing a full redesign but also creating a comprehensive platform guide detailing every component, template, and visual rule to ensure consistency, efficiency, and scalability across teams.
These challenges presented an opportunity to redefine Health.com’s digital identity while setting a high standard for future brand migrations at Meredith.
Process
1. Research & Audit
I led a full audit of the existing Health.com experience alongside current and archival print materials. My goal was to identify the core attributes of the print brand—its tone, hierarchy, and typographic voice—and determine how these could translate effectively into a digital environment.
This research highlighted key gaps in visual alignment and guided the framework for the redesign.
2. Stakeholder Alignment
As lead designer, I facilitated workshops and review sessions with editors, product managers, and the VP of Design to establish the creative direction and priorities. I defined how closely the digital experience should mirror the print identity, balancing editorial fidelity with digital usability.
Through these discussions, I aligned cross-functional teams around a shared vision for Health.com’s new direction and created a clear roadmap for design milestones and delivery.
3. Visual Exploration & Direction Setting
I led the visual exploration phase, developing multiple style guides that showcased potential color palettes, typographic systems, and interface components. These explorations enabled focused discussions around visual hierarchy, tone, and brand integrity.
Across eight rounds of iteration and review, I guided stakeholders through each design decision—culminating in the selection of Libre Franklin and Noto Serif as the core typefaces for their balance of editorial sophistication and digital clarity. This established the foundation for the redesigned visual system.
4. Platform Guide Development
Once the visual direction was approved, I led the creation of Health’s comprehensive platform guide. This included documenting every UI component, state, and pattern—buttons, forms, grids, navigation, and editorial modules—within a modular atomic design framework.
I collaborated closely with developers to ensure design fidelity, scalability, and ease of implementation, setting the blueprint for future brand migrations.
Final version of the Health Style Guide
Solution
Under my direction, the Health.com redesign delivered a cohesive, responsive digital experience that fully aligned with the brand’s refreshed editorial identity. The new platform guide served as a scalable system and single source of truth for design and development teams across Meredith.
The project not only elevated the Health brand’s digital presence but also established a repeatable model for migrating other legacy Time Inc. brands efficiently and consistently.
Impact
The Health.com redesign was among the first and most successful migrations within Meredith’s post-acquisition portfolio. The project:
Set the design and process standard for 40+ brand migrations that followed.
Improved visual cohesion between print and digital, modernizing the Health brand experience.
Established scalable design documentation that accelerated development timelines for future brands.
This success positioned the Health.com platform guide as a reference framework for subsequent high-profile redesigns, including Parents, Travel & Leisure, and Martha Stewart.
Design Insights & Project Reflections
The Health.com redesign was one of the first major migrations undertaken within Meredith’s portfolio following its acquisition, and it quickly became a benchmark for success. This initiative:
Set a precedent for brand migrations: Defined design and operational processes that served as the standard for over 40 subsequent brand migrations, streamlining cross-brand collaboration and reducing project ramp-up time.
Enhanced visual cohesion and modernization: Unified the Health brand across print and digital channels, delivering a more consistent, contemporary, and engaging experience for readers.
Built scalable, reusable documentation: Developed comprehensive design systems and documentation that accelerated development timelines and facilitated smoother handoffs for future redesigns.
The project’s success elevated the Health.com platform guide into a reference framework for other high-profile redesigns across Meredith, including Parents, Travel & Leisure, and Martha Stewart, positioning it as a model for how brand modernization could be executed efficiently and effectively at scale.