Insurance magazine design

The publication had a long history, and when we joined the project, the design had recently been refreshed. Rather than introduce a new direction, we built on the existing one, refining the design so it could adapt issue by issue while remaining grounded in established brand guidelines.

Articles were written by internal experts and external specialists, examining legislative developments and operational risk across the shipping industry. As topics shifted in scope and depth, page counts varied, so we worked within a flexible design framework that could respond without losing consistency.

We organised features predominantly across two-page spreads, building a clear reading rhythm and ensuring technical material flowed logically. The emphasis remained educational rather than promotional.

Maritime imagery can be visually repetitive, with many available photographs centred on vessels at sea or in port. Without access to commissioned shoots, we collaborated with the client to source images from established libraries and applied careful art direction to maintain variety.

We introduced contrast through cropping and scale, pairing wide maritime imagery with portrait compositions to keep the layouts from feeling repetitive.

Although the readership online was larger, we retained a print-first mindset. Around 2,500 copies were produced per issue, with three editions annually. The digital version replicated the print layout, so we designed spreads to work cohesively across both formats.

We managed version control meticulously and provided proofreading to maintain accuracy across print, digital and translated versions.

Risk Watch demonstrated how thoughtful insurance magazine design can support regulatory communication, maintain editorial authority and deliver consistency across multiple issues without relying on a rigid template.

Risk Watch serves a global membership, with editions in Simplified and Traditional Chinese, and also Japanese. We managed each version carefully, ensuring the original structure and hierarchy translated accurately across languages.