CHISTA MAGAZINE
Project Overview: Chista is a quarterly fashion magazine that explores contemporary style through Persian cultural perspectives. The project emerged from recognizing a gap in fashion media—most publications either ignore cultural depth entirely or treat it superficially. The goal was creating something that could present Persian heritage within sophisticated fashion editorial without falling into stereotypes or surface-level references.
Developing this magazine meant building a complete design system from scratch. Considerable time was spent figuring out how to translate Persian design principles into modern editorial language. The grid system draws from Persian architectural proportions, but in a way that actually works for contemporary content needs rather than just looking decorative. The colour palette references traditional Persian materials like lapis and saffron, but applied with editorial restraint to avoid the "exotic" trap that many cultural publications fall into.
Typography became crucial—the hierarchy needed to handle everything from fashion features to cultural profiles while maintaining visual sophistication. Swiss binding was partly aesthetic, partly practical. It gives that clean, architectural feel while allowing the magazine to lay completely flat, which just works better for any publication.
The 56-page Issue 01 prototype tests the system across fashion, culture, beauty, and film content. The real challenge was proving that cultural specificity strengthens rather than limits a publication's appeal. The final design shows how Persian heritage can inform contemporary fashion media without exoticization, creating something that offers both visual pleasure and cultural substance to today's readers.
