GATHER JOURNAL
Building a digital brand worthy of the print it was born from
Since Gather Journal's first issue in 2012, the work defined and grew the brand's entire digital presence across five years as its sole digital partner. What began as translating a beautifully considered print publication to screen became something larger: a holistic content ecosystem that earned Gather Journal the 2016 SPD Brand of the Year, and the hearts of food lovers worldwide.
Gather publishes just two print issues per year. That constraint made digital not a supplement to the magazine but its primary engagement channel. The work built value across every touchpoint between issues, giving readers reasons to stay connected to the brand year-round.
HIGH DESIGN, TRANSLATED
Gather is known for stunning food photography and an impeccable visual sensibility. The digital presence had to earn that same reputation. Through careful study of the print publication's typography, imagery, and editorial treatment, the website brought that analog beauty to screen without losing what made it distinctive.
COMMERCE AND COMMUNITY
Easy subscriptions and curated product collections tied to each issue's theme extended the brand into e-commerce. Social and CRM kept the community engaged and growing between print cycles, building the kind of loyal audience that a twice-yearly publication needs to survive and thrive.
HIGH DESIGN TRANSLATED ACROSS MEDIA
Gather is recognized for stunning food photography and impeccable style, so its digital presence needed to maintain that essence. We carefully studied the type, imagery, and treatment of the printed publication, designing a website that brought that analog beauty to the screen.
GATHER JOURNAL RECIPE APP
Featured by Apple as one of the most elegantly designed cooking experiences, the Recipe App collects all Gather Journal’s recipes together in one digital hub, for a deliciously user-friendly experience.
Featured by Apple as one of the most elegantly designed cooking experiences, the Gather Journal Recipe App gives access to every recipe published and enables growth in readership through digital subscriptions.
AN EVERGREEN RECIPEE APP EXPERIENCE
Gather subscribers loved the magazine so much they were buying two copies, one to cook from and one to keep pristine. That insight drove the development of the Gather Journal Recipe App, a mess-proof kitchen companion that collected every recipe into a single, beautifully designed digital hub. Apple featured it as one of the most elegantly designed cooking experiences available, recognizing both the craft and the thinking behind it.
PLATFORM AND PRODUCT
Content architecture was built around custom fields that broke recipes into individual components, steps, ingredients, quantities, and measurements, giving the team precise design control while enabling smart content distribution across channels. To streamline publishing further, the first open-source Adobe Experience Manager Mobile plugin was built from scratch, allowing Gather to publish directly from their website to each of their apps and sync content across platforms with minimal production overhead. A creative problem solved with an engineering solution.
All the content from the print issues are imported into the website using custom fields; recipes entered as smaller components: individual steps, ingredients, quantities, and measurements allowing us to control the visual design and distribute content across digital initiatives like Apple News, dedicated apps and reader-friendly perks like digital grocery lists.
Recognition
SPD Brand of the Year • Apple Featured App • Time Top Ten • Adobe Strategic Partner
Building creative systems that solve complex business problems.