Yonael Berhe

um_ok magazine

Lead Editorial Designer & Co-FounderThe Engine: Grayson Fullwood
The Tastemaker: Yonael Berhe
The Glue: Samuel Rich

um_ok is an annual arts & culture magazine based in Charlotte, NC. Cultivated by three designers who met in community college, the mission of the magazine is to highlight creatives' inspirational work and give their art permanence through print.

In my role as the lead curator, I helped bring together the talent both featured and contributing to the magazine. Also serverd as one of the directors in the design process, overseeing the layout and editorial design of the spreads, the rebranding of the logo and systems for the social media rollout.

The Rebranding
Developed the rebranding for um_ok magazine to match the quality of the content and talent we were working with for volume 2, as well as some legibility concerns with the original logo. The wordmark is arguably the most important visual element of an editorial magazine, and we wanted to pay homage to our roots while rising to the occasion.

This resulted in a wordmark which we felt was more confident, clear, and concise. 

The Cover Shoot
Creative Direction: Yonael Berhe
Photographer: Colin Cassidy 
Producers: Grayson Fullwood & Samuel Rich 
Models: Sebastian Errigo, Quinn Fullwood, Sarah Diffley, WHYJalil, Tony Calloway, Carson Breyer. Adam Seats, Rebecca Aurigemma, Reese Fullwood, Emma Quaid 

I served as the creative director of the cover shoot for volume 2, leading conceptualization and directly collaborating with the photographer, Colin Cassidy, day of in order to direct the shoot.

This shoot was an exploration of the community the comes from public transit, and how living in a primarily car commute city strips charlotte of those daily interactions. Transit can be a force that brings people together, and we explored what that vision of our city could look like.



Social Media Rollout

Assisted in developing the marketing plan for the rollout of volume, directed & starred in various shoots, editing videos, and deploying the process of sharing the amazing work featured in the magazine. 

Volume 2 was the first real introduction for many people into the world of um_ok, so we carefully laid out how we wanted to convert people from digital fans into physical media enjoyers. 

This culminated into our launch party activation, which was a huge success and led to us completely selling out of our first print run within a couple of hours.