Equilibrium: The Undergraduate Journal of Economics

Volume 15

2025

Created with Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, and Adobe Illustrator

For this annual publication, I co-designed Volume 15 of Equilibrium, the Undergraduate Journal of Economics at UW–Madison. Working alongside another designer from my Digital Studies Capstone course, we split responsibilities evenly, collaborating through a shared planning document where we brainstormed aesthetics, mapped layouts, and ideated ways to refresh the magazine’s visual identity while staying true to its roots.

We were given just two weeks to design the issue after receiving the final article content, which required fast-paced decision-making, strong time management, and efficient communication. Together, we created four drafts before finalizing the design.

I designed six article spreads, the Letter from the Editors page, and the Table of Contents, along with creating the skyline illustration for the front and back covers in Adobe Illustrator. Our color palette was inspired by UW–Madison’s iconic reds and the Equilibrium brand’s recognizable blues, bringing a bold yet exciting energy to the layout.

This project pushed me to rapidly execute a full-length editorial design under real-world constraints and gave me hands-on experience blending visual creativity with academic professionalism.