O, THE OPRAH MAGAZINE
O, The Oprah Magazine
Founding Design Director
When I heard that Oprah was launching a new magazine, even before I got a call about the job, I began to wonder how it could be done better or differently than the other women’s magazines out there. Oprah had already enriched my life through her show which is why I was excited to embody her personality into a magazine. I knew, if done right, it would help other women lead their best lives too.
Soon after joining the launch team, O, The Oprah Magazine went on to become the most successful magazine launch in history.
ASSIGNMENT: Create and launch a celebrity lifestyle magazine focused on extending Oprah’s brand to a magazine which would appeal to a new brand audience: well-educated, professional, high-income females.
CHALLENGE: Deliver the entire set of assets to the printing presses in only three months while going up against the most crowded news stand category: Womens lifestyle and service.
See more of O, Magazine in Health + Wellness and Covers.
EXPERTISE
Brand Development
Project Management
Recruitment
Budget Management
Team Management
Design Direction
Creative Direction
Editorial Design
Content Development
Select covers from my almost 9-year tenure as Design Director
Health & Wellness story examples
AMAZING RESULTS:
O, The Oprah Magazine is the most successful magazine launch in history.
Readership numbers soared to 2.8 million in a record 2 years and made a profit after only 2 issues, a rarity in any magazine launch.
The publication cut a wide swath through the women’s lifestyle category in readership, sales and advertising.
O, Magazine truly laid the groundwork for the Health and Wellness category which is still building and growing exponentially in today’s cultural climate.
The magazine won numerous industry citations including Advertising Age’s “Launch of the Year”, “Magazine of the Year” and ASME’s General Excellence, Society of Publication Designers (SPD) and so many more.
See more of O, Magazine in Health + Wellness and Covers.
“Carla Frank was the launch design director, and remained on the title for almost ten years, during which she produced some of the greatest and most moving editorial design I’ve ever seen.”