Ajifa
A fashion and culture magazine made for the web, with a studio beside it. I designed and built all of it.
- Role
- Design and build, end to end
- Year
- 2026
- Depth
- 4 layers
Why
The idea
Who it is for, and why
Most fashion magazines online are print, flattened onto a screen. Ajifa is a publication made of photographs, designed for the screen first, to stand next to AnOther, Kinfolk, System and i-D and look more considered.
A regular magazine, plus one move only a screen can make: a photograph that develops while it really loads.
How
Layer by layer
4 layers · the decision in each, and why
The same depth as on Work, opened up.
Interface
The darkroom as language
Everything comes from the darkroom. Silver appears only in the wordmark, and hand-drawn editor’s marks replace icons, each with one job.
Why · Could only Ajifa own this?
Motion
One loud move, the rest quiet
The lead photograph develops, from a pale ghost to full tone, only on the cover and between stories. Everything else stays quiet and moves the same way.
Why · It is honest: the image really is loading
Editorial system
Five formats, one grid
Stories are built from a library of scenes: mostly calm, a few designed moments, never more than one pinned sequence. Five formats share one grid.
Why · A designed moment stays only if removing it would lose something
Delivery
Fast, static, nothing lost
Every page is prerendered and every image sized for the screen. Stills replace video when the reader saves data, reduced motion gets a full version, and the index works with JavaScript off.
Why · The reader is on a mid-range phone, often on 4G
Ends here · 4 layers
Now
Where it is
As of November 2026
Issue 01 is live, and it doubles as the studio’s sample: proof the reading experience works before the first real issue goes out.
Contact
For a role, a product, or a second opinion on one. A call books straight into my calendar.