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Case Study

Gate Magazine

Cover Illustration

Between 2023 and 2024, I collaborated with Gate Magazine, the cultural magazine distributed notably at Rome airport, creating illustrated covers centered on destinations, cultural themes and travel stories.

Visit the Gate Magazine website ↗
Gate magazine no. 32 cover illustrated by Sakina Zeghloul: a golfer at the end of his swing with the Colosseum in the background

1. Context

The collaboration with Gate Magazine took place between 2023 and 2024. The magazine highlights a destination or a subject through a demanding and inspiring editorial line.

My role: to propose an original visual interpretation that captures the spirit of the subject while fitting the magazine's elegant, cosmopolitan identity.

2. My Approach

Designing a magazine cover means translating a story into a strong, instantly readable image. My process includes:

  • Analysing the brief and the editorial angle
  • Visual and iconographic research
  • Composition designed for the cover format
  • Balancing illustration, title and cover lines
  • Creating a distinctive, memorable image

3. Specific Constraints

A cover has to be striking even at a reduced size (newsstand, mobile), while still leaving room for typography and editorial information.

Vertical format, visual hierarchy, contrast, title legibility: every graphic choice serves the message as much as the visual.

4. Selected Covers

Cover of Gate magazine no. 36 illustrated by Sakina Zeghloul, showing hikers walking along a mountain ridge, 2024

Gate No. 36

Mountains and Adventure

Concept
Capture the spirit of a winter getaway through the world of mountains and hiking, with a group of walkers making their way across an alpine landscape.
Visual Direction
Dynamic silhouettes in the foreground, mountains in the background suggesting altitude and depth, a palette dominated by blues and whites evoking altitude, snow and alpine light.
Technique
Digital illustration.
Gate magazine no. 33 cover illustrated by Sakina Zeghloul: a celebrity in a blue gown posing under camera flashes at a film festival

Gate No. 33

Cinema and Glamour

Concept
Highlight the glamorous image of a film festival through the contrast between an elegant silhouette and the flash of camera lights.
Visual Direction
High-contrast palette, interplay of shadow and light, a glamorous staging without an identifiable face.
Technique
Digital illustration.
Gate magazine no. 35 cover illustrated by Sakina Zeghloul: a secluded chalet nestled in the heart of the mountains, bathed in pink hues, 2024

Gate No. 35

The Softness of Winter

Concept
Evoke the warm atmosphere of a secluded chalet within an icy landscape.
Visual Direction
Golden and pastel tones, a clean composition centred on the evening light.
Technique
Digital illustration.
See all covers for Gate Magazine

5. What This Collaboration Means

Working with Gate Magazine allowed me to explore a wide range of subjects and cultures, and to sharpen my ability to tell a story in a single image.

Every cover is a creative challenge where art direction, storytelling and editorial constraints meet.

Inside Gate Magazine featuring an illustration by Sakina Zeghloul