Seen in the Wild — Print Advertising for PDXWIT in Portland Monthly
A suite of print-ready ads in eight sizes for Portland Monthly magazine — designed around the PDXWIT brand's grid aesthetic and built to the exact specifications of a real publication.
A real publication, real specs, and a chance to dust off some print knowledge.
As PDXWIT grew in visibility across Portland, Portland Monthly approached the organization to provide filler ads for use when space allowed in the magazine. The brief was clear: inclusive, beautiful in print, and on brand. Starting with the grid concept that had become central to the PDXWIT visual language, I explored a few directions — including one built around fire and excitement — before landing on the clean grid aesthetic that worked best for print. The ads also translated well to digital, which extended their usefulness beyond the magazine. Seeing one in the wild at the dentist's office a couple months later was a genuinely satisfying moment.
The Problem
Eight sizes, precise specs, and a return to print production.
Print advertising has specific demands that digital work doesn't — safe art areas, trim lines, bleed requirements, and size constraints that all have to work simultaneously. Designing eight ad sizes that all felt cohesive while hitting every technical specification was the core challenge of this project.
A grid-based system that held up across every size.
The grid concept — already central to the PDXWIT visual language — proved to be exactly the right foundation for a multi-size ad system. Clean, geometric, and brand-consistent, it adapted naturally to each format without losing its impact. A few iterations were needed to get everything technically correct, but the system came together confidently.
Portland Monthly Ad Variants
Adobe InDesign Adobe IllustratorThree of the eight ad sizes shown — the horizontal, square, and vertical formats that formed the core of the campaign. Each was built with a safe art area, trim line, and 0.125" bleed to meet Portland Monthly's exact print specifications.
Print production knowledge you don't lose — you just store it for a while.
This project was a welcome return to print production after years of primarily digital work. The technical demands — safe art areas, trim lines, bleed requirements, size-specific layout adjustments — came back quickly, like tapping into knowledge that had been sitting in storage. Working within the PDXWIT brand made the creative decisions easier; the visual language was already established, so the challenge was purely about adaptation and production precision. Seeing the ad in Portland Monthly at the dentist's office a couple months after delivery was one of those small but genuinely satisfying moments that reminds you the work goes somewhere real.