Matt Willey

Matt Willey is a graphic designer living in Brooklyn, New York. In 2020 he joined the New York office of Pentagram as a partner. Previously he was the art director of The New York Times Magazine (2015—2020). He was previously the Creative Director and Senior Editor of the quarterly style magazine Port, the first Art Director of the arts magazine Elephant and Art Director of the travel and culture magazine Avaunt.

Matt approaches projects with an open mind and is not limited by a traditionalist view of a particular medium. He believes that many of the rules of magazine design no longer apply, so the designer can “do things differently, be more nimble and creative”. This is showcased in the literary magazine, INQUE, which he launched in 2021.

Typography

Matt’s work is highly typographic. He also uses a combination of hand-craft and digtial in his design, which makes them unique and well considered. Two such projects include the title graphics for British television series Killing Eve and Kaos, TV show which sees the famed characters from Greek mythology living amongst mortals on Earth.

A consistent thread throughout Willey’s work is the incorporation of bespoke typefaces, which he draws for the specific contexts of the brands, publications and stories in which they appear. These custom fonts have included AType, BWord, NewPort and NSW01.

Self-reflection

I admire the way Matt uses design process to create work that feels both engaging and emotive. His use of hand-crafted elements gives the work a distinctive, unique quality. It’s his carefully considered art direction, especially in how he handles type, that really resonates with me. I aim to bring that same level of thoughtfulness to my own work, blending image and type in a way that connects emotionally with the audience.