06 / 06 — Publishing

Honey
Suckle

A custom masthead for a new independent magazine—drawn to stand out on a cover and stay flexible from issue to issue.

Role: Logo designer
Deliverables: Custom masthead + final artwork
Client: Honey Suckle Magazine

Honey Suckle Magazine cover featuring Wiz Khalifa and the custom masthead

The brief / 01

Giving the name more presence.

Honey Suckle already had a memorable name and an early logo with a lot of personality. My job was to turn that energy into a masthead that could carry a cover and still work with different photography, colors, and stories.

Previous Honey Suckle masthead before David Soto's redesign

Drawing / 02

Bringing the name together.

The sketch joined the two words into one continuous piece of lettering. I pushed the contrast, swashes, and connections until it felt expressive without becoming hard to read.

Final pencil sketch of the Honey Suckle masthead before vector refinement

Detail / 03

The Y has a little history in it.

The original logo used a flower, and that idea stayed in the back of my mind while I was drawing. Instead of repeating it, I worked a petal-like turn into the tail of the Y—a quieter nod to where the magazine started.

Original mark / Flower direction Flower symbol in the original Honey Suckle logo

Petal-like detail in the hand-drawn Y of the new Honey Suckle masthead

Final mark / 04

Cleaning it up without cleaning it out.

I refined the curves, spacing, and connections in vector while keeping the movement of the drawing. The finished masthead stays clear at cover size and holds up when it gets smaller.

Custom masthead / Final

In print / 05

Made to change from issue to issue.

The masthead shifts in scale, color, and placement from cover to cover, but it still feels like the same publication. That flexibility was part of the point.

Lil Wayne — Issue 14 cover using the Honey Suckle masthead — Lil Wayne — Issue 14

Wiz Khalifa — Magic Icon Edition cover using the Honey Suckle masthead — Wiz Khalifa — Magic Icon Edition

The Black Issue cover using the Honey Suckle masthead — The Black Issue

The Freedom Issue cover using the Honey Suckle masthead — The Freedom Issue

Issue 6 — Alan Cumming cover using the Honey Suckle masthead — Issue 6 — Alan Cumming

Hers — Kirsten Dunst cover using the Honey Suckle masthead — Hers — Kirsten Dunst

Project credits