Colorful board game or poster with the word 'NOW' in the center, surrounded by layered geometric shapes in various colors, on a blue background with scattered popcorn.

The NOW — Internal news that’s worth reading

The NOW is IDEO’s internal newsletter—a monthly publication created to connect our nine global studios through shared stories, updates, and moments of joy. As the firm grew and hybrid work became the norm, our internal comms tools needed to evolve. The original version of The NOW had strong content, but inconsistent formatting, low engagement, and a layout that made it difficult to read on mobile.

I led the editorial and creative refresh of The NOW, rethinking not just how it looked—but how it could serve the IDEO community. Being a designer myself, I proposed a rotating guest designer model, inviting a different visual designer each issue to craft the look and feel. This spotlighted talent from around the world, celebrated individual voices, and helped designers build internal visibility—an essential part of career growth at IDEO. Following the relaunch, open rates jumped 30% and readership increased by 20%.

DISCIPLINES
Art Direction
Writing & Editing Publication Design
Cultural Communications

TOOLS
Adobe InDesign
Adobe Illustrator
Publicate
Wordpress

Background & Objectives

As IDEO shifted to a hybrid working model to build teams across time zones and countries we were looking for ways to stay connected. The NOW had long been a space for IDEOers to share news, celebrate moments, and archive our culture, but it needed a redesign to reflect how people actually read and engage with internal comms today, and a more community-driven approach.

The goal was to make The NOW feel less like a corporate update and more like a reflection of the IDEO community: curious, human, and delightfully inconsistent in the best way.

Website page for IDEO with large text stating, "We are a global design company committed to creating positive impact," accompanied by statistics about employees, locations, and design capabilities, with links to join the team, find a location, and explore their work.

1. Finding the real need

I started with informal interviews and to understand what people wanted from The NOW. Across studios, the feedback was consistent: “I skim it,” “It’s hard to follow,” and “I don’t always finish it.”

People wanted updates, but more than that, they wanted connection. They wanted to see people not just projects.

Design Process

2. Reworking the structure

Rather than developing a fixed visual system, I proposed something more aligned with IDEO’s values: each issue would feature a different guest designer from a global studio. This allowed each issue to have a unique aesthetic, reflected a diversity of voices, and gave individual designers a platform to showcase their personality and build their internal brand.

3. Editorial reframing

I revised headlines and summaries to be more conversational and inviting. We treated the intro like a mini-editorial—setting the tone for each issue and making space for small moments of personality.

4. Design direction and editorial support

While each designer brought their own flair, I provided creative direction and editorial structure which ensured readability, brand coherence, and visual accessibility across desktop and mobile.

Screenshot of an email or digital notebook with a list of entries on the left and a detailed note on the right, related to editorial work, projects, and personal reflections.
Screenshot of a digital editorial calendar with a list of scheduled interviews and articles, including details such as date, title, and brief descriptions; highlighted entry for Jamie Styles / Internal.
Email inbox displaying a message from Marta Harding dated September 17, 2019, titled 'Do you read the NOW?'
Screenshot of an email inbox on a computer screen, showing a conversation with Katie Clark about reading preferences, device formats, internal content, and digital publications.

We interviewed over 30 IDEOers across the globe. People who read the NOW and those who didn’t.

One of the biggest takeaways from our research was that readers wanted us to return to the original PDF format over the web-based version that had been introduced. We found that nearly two-thirds of readers engaged with The Now on their phones during their commute. This insight led us to optimize the design for mobile.

We also heard from several studios across Asia and Europe that the content felt too Bay Area–centric, highlighting the need for broader regional representation. That feedback informed our approach to sourcing stories, ensuring The NOW reflected IDEO’s truly global culture.

Collage of overlapping website screens featuring a headline "NOW" with leaves background, a menu with categories People, Projects, Articles, Archive, Contact, and an article about fiber cups and the circular economy.

The NOW website. We kept the site, but made it supplementary to the PDF issue released via email.

Example Issues

Below is a sampling from various issues—each designed by a different contributor from across IDEO’s studios.

Sept 2019, A Vogel

A vertical infographic about a community tour, featuring colorful circles with locations and activities such as a health studio, OAS, playground, and DIY workshops, along with photos of people participating in various events and activities.

July 2019, V Hill

Colorful infographic with sections titled 'NOW', 'HELLO!', and 'SHANGHAI TOUR RECAP'. Contains travel-related content, charts, and illustrations with a mix of English and Asian characters. Features bright colors, icons, and illustrations of buildings, people, and maps. Emphasizes economic and tourism topics related to China, including a section on 'CIRCULAR ECONOMY' and 'EAT!'.

Jan 2019, L Rodabaugh

The word 'NOW' written vertically in red letters on a light pink background, with the letter 'O' outlined in red containing the word 'IDEO' inside it.
Book cover titled 'Healthy Minds @ Work' by Jessica Randazza-Pade, featuring a pink silhouette of a human head with a torn paper-like design, a blue heart inside the brain area, and blue lines resembling clock hands or rays around the heart.
A motivational text poster with red and black text on a light blue background. It discusses hopes and resolutions for 2019, mentioning themes like chaos, happiness, art, humanity, and support, with red marks and lines emphasizing certain parts.
A chart illustrating how 2019 IDEOers prioritize more or less of various activities, with two red thumbs-up and thumbs-down icons at the top, and lines connecting activities to their associated levels of emphasis.
Graphic design featuring the word 'LONDON' with abstract shapes and lines on a yellow background.
Group of people gathered at a British Airways booth at an event, where a woman in a vintage airline uniform is handing a certificate to a seated woman. The scene is indoors with a yellow informational sign about the London first CE Colab Makeathon on the wall. The crowd appears attentive and engaged.
Graphic design with text that reads 'San Francisco' stylized with geometric shapes, including a smiley face, on a light pink background.
A magazine or brochure page featuring a drawing of California coastal scenery with a flowering plant in the foreground, and a section of text about Melissa Garden's artwork and phone booths decorated with murals inspired by California flora and fauna.
Abstract geometric collage with black, red, beige, and pink shapes on a light pink background, with text: "By Hannah Momberg" at the bottom.

Dec 2019, C Bulnorova

Colorful, kaleidoscopic abstract pattern with the words "now" in the center and the date "14th December 2018" at the bottom, with the letters I, D, E, and O positioned in the corners.
Cover page with black background and white text that reads, 'The last issue of 2018'.
Cover of a publication titled 'Interview with Dave Strong,' listing locations including Tokyo, Munich, Palo Alto, Shanghai, and Colab, with a section on horoscopes.
Book cover titled 'Mischief' showing a family portrait with a pelican and a dog, set against a dark background with floating planets, framed with green and black borders, and a description of the story below.
A man stands on stage speaking to an audience in a conference room with a panel of five people seated on stage. The scene is part of a professional event or seminar, and the audience watches attentively.
A vibrant, symmetrical digital artwork featuring colorful neon lights and geometric patterns with the word 'Tokyo' in the center.
Person using electric drill on orange plastic pieces at a workspace with various crafting supplies around.
Four people standing in front of a tall, ornate temple in Thailand, with a clear blue sky above. The temple has intricate architecture with multiple tiers and spires.
Cover image for 'Your Journey Horoscopes' book featuring symmetrical abstract patterns in yellow, green, black, and orange colors with smokey textures and intricate designs.
The image is a dark-themed astrology-based horoscope guide titled 'Journey Horoscopes' with sections on 'Marketing' and 'Coordination', describing celestial events and their implications for 2019, including the moon and planet Jupiter.
A textured white background with a quote written in light gray text about a past experience, beginning with "P.S." and asking, "when was the last time you did something for the first time?"

Aug 2019, A Vogel

Event poster with vibrant colors and bold text promoting a September 13, 2019 science event titled 'Doing it with Data Science.' Features images of happy people, eye graphics, and diagrams, with sections about speakers and ideas for laughter tracking in sleep.
A colorful infographic about a laugh detection project, featuring a computer screen with a human ear graphic, text boxes with various information, and a pink squiggle connecting elements.
Posters promoting IDEO Colab's bi-annual makeathon event, featuring call for makers, application deadline September 15th, and information on how to participate.
Poster for Play Lab's Portfolio Playground with information about team members, activities, and concepts like laughter games and the study of laughter, featuring photos of people at an event and a presentation.

Apr 2019, G Joseph

Event promotional poster with the headline "Special Edition Now" and various sections including a welcome message, schedule, speaker bios, and event photos. The poster features black, yellow, and white colors.

In addition to editing the journal, I wrote “Journey Horoscopes” hyper-personalized typologies written for an IDEO audience. Rather than using sun signs, these horoscopes are organized by discipline, called Journeys: Design, Technology, Accounting, Biz Ops, etc, and were published in The Now.

My process for these was highly scientific. It involved consuming Chani Nichols and Co-Star daily, and monthly interviews (happy hours) with each discipline.

Journey Horoscopes

Screenshot of a text document discussing moon astrology, celestial events, and upcoming challenges and opportunities for the year, with sections on coordination, product owner, marketing, design, and experience.
A webpage with a light blue background consists of text discussing planetary influences, focusing on Jupiter and its impact on communication, production, design, accounting, talent, and experience, with headings for each section.
A page with a list of motivational and guidance paragraphs, each titled with a different focus like Coordination, Experience, Accounting, Marketing, Legal, Product Owner, and Community.
A text document discussing experiences, business development, coordination, product ownership, community, and marketing related to space travel, particularly focusing on Mars and Venus.
Close-up of numerous small, shiny, gold-colored hexagon-shaped glitter particles with some black and white reflections.
Text document discussing second cycle of business operations, development, talent, design, production, and technology with blue and black text.
A long text document discussing planetary and technological updates, community feelings, experience, business development, and legal matters related to planets Saturn, Mercury, Mars, Venus, and others, in a casual, conversational tone.
Screenshot of a text-based webpage with sections titled Legal, Business Ops, Business Development, Production, Design, and Coordination, discussing various topics related to Mercury, space missions, and project management.
Screenshot of an email discussing astrology horoscopes and various monthly themes, including accounting, design, talent, legal, production, and technology.
A page from a book or booklet titled 'Journey Horoscopes' with a section on business operations discussing Mars retrograde starting June 26 and advice on communication and preparedness.
A card titled 'Journey Horoscope' with a section labeled 'Talent' contains a message about the month being good for starting strong, feeling a mental power surge, and ending on top of the world, encouraging readers to not fault others for their success.
Close-up of small gold, black, and silver glitter particles
A beige sign with orange text titled 'Journey Horoscopes' that provides an astrology-related message about experiences on May 20 involving Mars and Jupiter, encouraging focus and self-care during astrological transits.
A printed page titled 'Journey Horoscopes' with a subtitle 'Production' and a paragraph of text discussing upcoming weeks and astrological insights.
A printed page titled "Journey Horoscopes" with a section labeled "TECH" describing technological disruptions and upcoming planetary power in the southern hemisphere affecting OS updates.
A printed page titled 'Journey Horoscopes' with the subtitle 'Design.' The text discusses the importance of recognition and bonuses in a work setting, emphasizing teamwork and keeping work topics off the work list to recharge. The page has a subtle rainbow-colored hint in the background.