6 Months to Live · Rebrand and mobile-first website
How do you make a big question a pleasure to read?
6 Months to Live is an online community and publication built around one question from its creator, Jacqueline Boone: if you have this one life, how will you spend it? We rebranded it and built a mobile-first site that is a pleasure to read and easy to come back to.
- Rebrand
- Logo
- Mobile-first website
- Editorial design
Ask
The challenge
A heavy question. A light read.
Intense, not grim
The name asks what you would do with six months to live. The brand had to feel reflective, not morbid.
Phones first
Most readers arrive on a phone, one story at a time. If the first page is not a pleasure to read, there is no second visit.
A home to come back to
Stories, events, press and an academy all needed a place, without crowding the reading.
The rebrand
A pause in the name.
The new wordmark puts the six in parentheses, a small pause that makes the name feel reflective rather than grim. The site follows the same idea: clean type, one centered column, generous photos and a menu that slides out of the way until it is needed.
Write
The website
Scroll through it the way a visitor would.
The 6 Months to Live website, section by section
One question, full screen
“The experiment continues… What could you do in 6 months?” over golden-hour light, under the new wordmark.
Stories first
Each story gets a big photo, a category in sky blue, a serif headline and a short excerpt. Nothing else competes.
Where it all began
The original experiment, started on November 12, 2009, sits right on the homepage for new readers to find.
Room for hard subjects
Anger, loss and last words. The calm layout gives heavy stories space to breathe.
An invitation to join
One button to every story, then a quiet footer that invites readers into the community and the newsletter.
Mobile
Designed for the phone first
This is a publication people read on the go, so the phone came first. Large serif type, one centered column and a story per screen make it easy to keep scrolling.
- The question fills the first screen
- One story per screen
- Large type in one centered column
Live
Sammy is the best Asheville web designer I’ve ever worked with! He’s done two of my websites, my logo, and several other marketing pieces. He’s always professional, responsive, and does excellent work.
The brand
Warm, quiet and readable
Golden-hour photography sets a hopeful tone, a calm sky blue marks categories and links, and a deep charcoal grounds the footer. Classic serif headlines and a centered column keep the writing at the heart of every page.
The answer
The design stays quiet so the writing can be loud
The work together
- 2websites designed for JacquelineIn her own words, in her Google review
- 1new logo, with the six in parenthesesPart of the rebrand
- 5stories featured on the homepageEach with a photo, a category and an excerpt
A refreshed brand and a mobile-first publication that is a pleasure to read and navigate. Stories get the space they deserve, and reading is as comfortable on a phone as on a laptop.
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