Farrar, Straus and Giroux launched the publishing imprint MCD×FSG in 2017. Its mission is to push the boundaries of storytelling towards the unexpected—through surprising narratives, undiscovered authors and innovative formats. Our challenge was creating a publisher site that went beyond the traditional “online catalogue” model. In collaboration with our development team at Bang Equals, we designed a custom CMS that allows the editors to publish rich digital storytelling content and flexibly add new features over time.
We wanted to signal MCD’s unique perspective from the first moment of interaction: a triptych-style scrolling experience with unexpected juxtapositions of content. Throughout our collaboration, the editors pushed us to infuse the digital experience with surprise and delight, which resulted in playful animations and hidden hover states across the site.
In Fall 2018, we added an online archive for MCD×FSG's newsletter The Electric Eel. Each issue covers a single work of digital storytelling, providing a window into narrative experimentation in contemporary culture.
