Variable Magazine
Volunteer, IBM
—
Co-Founder +
Editor-in-chief
2016 – 2020
Design culture doesn’t appear out of thin air. It can’t be willed or mandated, and when you’re trying to foster a community across 20+ studios, you have to think outside the box. In 2016, I co-founded Variable magazine with the goal of celebrating design, and elevating design culture within IBM.
What started as a passion project went on to inspire other grassroots initiatives, spawn an incredible network of contributors, and serve as a primary way for designers to connect across IBM.
My Role
As the Editor-in-Chief by issue 4, I managed the entire editorial process, instilled a culture of critique, and worked closely with studio leaders to continuously refine our approach.
Throughout production, we created a space where 60+ volunteer contributors were able to grow their design, content, and critique skills.
As an added benefit of working for IBM, company recognition alone netted us some incredible interviews. To plan and interview top talent like Ashleigh Axios, Alton Brown, Buzz Aldrin, Mark Cuban, and Paula Scher across a myriad of topics gave the magazine instant credibility.
Outcomes
Designers and writers stretched and honed their skills within Variable—a lower stakes environment than in product. And as an unintended result, these Variablers brought refined skills in typography, layout, and editorial voice into their product work. I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t the single most exciting part of this effort.
While I can’t prove it with numbers, I saw how important this passion project became within IBM. Contributors listed “Variable” as part of their career checkpoints, issues were given to clients during studio tours, and new hires received a copy on day 1 to serve as a small slice of the culture they were now apart of.
In all, we released 9 issues, printed 11,000 copies, and shipped to over 20 countries. Co-workers praised one another for their hidden talents, IBMers sent videos of their kids reading articles, and any time one of our contributors left IBM for another opportunity, they all said, “Variable was one of the best parts of being an IBMer.” Pretty cool.