VARIETY MAGAZINE 30 EXECS

Variety commissioned this custom lettering and cover to spotlight its annual 30 Executives to Watch feature. The brief called for a typographic image that could signal leadership and influence without relying on portraiture.

The cover centers on a large, illustrated “30,” constructed from continuous striped forms. Drawing from the visual language of the pinstripe suit, long associated with executive culture, the lettering merges that reference with optical distortion and rhythm. As the stripes bend and compress, the number oscillates between legibility and abstraction, introducing motion and instability into a traditionally rigid symbol of authority. The result is an image that reframes executive power through perception, transforming a familiar code into something more fluid, contemporary, and visually charged.