The Spring 2017 redesign of The Ritz-Carlton Magazine

Byron Regej: When I started as Group Creative Director at Manifest Creative Agency, I had the pleasure and honor to oversee the entire account for the Marriott/Ritz-Carlton business. Specifically, I spearheaded and oversaw the redesign of The Ritz-Carlton's global hotel magazine. Concepting and moodboarding the redesign lead me to reference some of the great European magazines I had collected on my travels over the past years abroad. This had to feel like a global magazine with local appeal.

The biggest shift for the magazine was the grid system, which beforehand, advertorial and editorial merged together and blurred the lines between great editorial content to that of sponsored content. The new grid system that was introduced allowed more flexibility to create white space and modernize layouts. For editors to curate content, the grid system provided flexibility, energy and rhythm between pages. Budgets have been reduced more and more in the magazine industry with the expectation to do a lot more with less but still have a voice and stand out. Taking existing imagery and giving treatments and color grades to frame and modernize were some key shifts to its success that became identifiable moments of the magazine's new appeal.