Role: Lead Product Designer
Timeline: 4-6 weeks
Project Type: Hub Page

Project Overview:

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop the digital team requested a custom build highlighting notable profiles that tell the story of the genre's future. This project showcases the next generation of sounds, artists, scenes, and trends that will continue to shape and influence Hip-Hop culture moving forward.

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Goal

Our goal was to explore and integrate VICE's bold color scheme alongside the unique brand colors of the project. This combination allowed us to create a cohesive visual identity that both honors VICE’s distinctive aesthetic and complements the specific branding of the project.

Highlight the Future of Hip-Hop: Showcase emerging talent, trends, and cultural influencers in a dedicated digital space.

Engage Users with Dynamic Content: Incorporate multimedia elements like videos, articles, and interactive features to immerse users in Hip-Hop’s evolving story.

Create a Seamless User Experience: Design an intuitive user interface that encourages exploration of different profiles and content.

We applied these colors thoughtfully across various design elements, particularly in the pop-up modals and as accent colors throughout the page, ensuring a visually engaging and dynamic user experience. By blending both color palettes, we aimed to reinforce the brand’s identity while enhancing the overall look and feel of the digital experience.

As the lead product designer, I was responsible for the overall design strategy, from ideation through final execution. This included developing wireframes, prototyping, visual design, and collaborating with the stakeholders and the teams to ensure a cohesive user experience.

I began by analyzing the target audience—Hip-Hop fans and culture enthusiasts. These users value vibrant, visually dynamic experiences that mirror the energy of the culture.

Interactive Features:

Profile Cards: Each artist or cultural figure was featured in a profile card that users could click on to access more detailed content or hover state to display a brief bio.

"More Profiles" Section: To encourage further exploration, I incorporated a "More Profiles" section at the bottom of each page, allowing users to seamlessly discover more emerging talent.

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Cont. Explorations

With the following designs below, we aimed to explore variations of the card grid layouts specifically for desktop, optimizing visual organization and user interaction. Additionally, with implementation of the "More Profiles" card grids at the bottom of the page to encourage users to explore further profiles from other sections, promoting deeper engagement with the content.

The flow was designed to be intuitive, leading users from profile to profile with minimal friction, while keeping the experience engaging.

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Modals

For mobile designs, I designed multiple wireframes to explore how to present a diverse set of profiles, balancing text and multimedia content. We focused on refining the pop-up modals and adding "More Profiles" card grids at the bottom of the page to encourage users to explore additional profiles from other sections. Editors have the option to feature either 3 or 6 additional profiles in this section. We also experimented with branded colors to create a cohesive, visually appealing experience that enhances user engagement.

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Profile Modals

I explored multiple profile modal layouts that extended the platform's visual identity through branded colors and card treatments.

Each profile is presented within a modal and includes a featured image, artist category, name, location, a detailed biography, social media links, and a call to action linking to a related editorial article. The layout was designed to establish a clear visual hierarchy, making it easy for users to learn about each artist while providing seamless access to additional content.

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Mobile Mockup "More Profiles" Feed

This feed builds on the established design language, using branded colors and consistent layout patterns to create a seamless transition between individual profiles and continued content discovery.

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Hero Concepts

These hero explorations focused on finding the right balance between visual impact, content hierarchy, and usability. We explored variations in overall layout, header positioning, and subheading (dek) placement to understand how each element influenced the storytelling experience. We also experimented with integrating video and GIF content as dynamic visual anchors to enhance engagement and reinforce the narrative.

Beyond the hero itself, we evaluated different approaches for structuring supporting sections to create a seamless content flow and intuitive navigation. These iterations helped define a cohesive design direction that captured attention while maintaining clarity, accessibility, and a strong editorial experience.

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Final Design & Outcome:

The final experience celebrated the evolution of Hip-Hop by creating an immersive, multimedia-driven platform that encouraged exploration and discovery. Users could browse artist profiles, watch videos, explore visual content, and read in-depth biographies alongside related VICE editorial coverage — creating a deeper connection between the artists, their stories, and the culture.

Increased Engagement

The dynamic, content-rich experience was designed to encourage longer exploration sessions by guiding users from artist profiles into related videos, articles, and additional stories. The combination of interactive elements and editorial storytelling created multiple pathways for discovery.

Positive Client Feedback

The platform was well received by the client for its creative approach to storytelling, thoughtful integration of multimedia content, and ability to showcase the evolution of Hip-Hop through an engaging digital experience.

Successful Brand Integration

The project maintained VICE’s distinct editorial identity while embracing the forward-thinking nature of Hip-Hop culture. The final design balanced archival storytelling with contemporary digital interactions, creating an experience that reflected both the history and future of the genre.

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