Our goal is to work with a skilled volunteer on magazine layout and graphic design for 23and1 Magazine, a nonprofit publication focused on incarceration, criminal justice reform, rehabilitation, and justice-impacted voices. The volunteer will design two magazine article layouts using strong typography and visual storytelling while maintaining our established brand identity. They will also create one social-media-ready graphic and prepare the completed designs for print and digital use. Throughout this approximately 20-hour project, completed on a flexible schedule of approximately 2–5 hours per week, our team will provide editorial feedback and work collaboratively with the volunteer through revisions and final formatting.

Through this project, the volunteer will help 23and1 strengthen the visual presentation of stories and perspectives from incarcerated and justice-impacted individuals. Our magazine works to highlight rehabilitation, criminal justice reform, the effects of incarceration, and successful reentry while giving people directly affected by the justice system a platform for their voices and experiences. Strong, professional design helps us present these stories in an engaging and accessible way, expand our audience, and increase awareness of the issues and people at the heart of our mission.

Our team has prepared for this project by developing a clear, approximately 20-hour project plan that can be completed flexibly over several weeks based on the volunteer's availability. We will provide the volunteer with our brand guidelines, including fonts, colors, tone, past issues, and the editorial content needed for the project. Our team will be available to answer questions, provide timely feedback, and review drafts throughout the design process. The completed layouts will be considered for use in upcoming issues of 23and1 Magazine, giving the volunteer an opportunity to create portfolio-ready work while contributing to a real nonprofit publication.

Organization Mission

23&1 Magazine is a nonprofit media organization dedicated to amplifying the voices, experiences, talents, and accomplishments of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals. Our mission is to challenge the stigma surrounding incarceration by sharing authentic stories of personal growth, rehabilitation, creativity, resilience, and success. Through journalism, personal narratives, poetry, artwork, interviews, and educational content, we provide a platform for voices that are too often overlooked or unheard. 23&1 Magazine also seeks to bring awareness to important issues within the criminal justice system, including wrongful convictions, the effects of solitary confinement, barriers to successful reentry, and the need for meaningful rehabilitation and reform. We believe that incarceration should not define the entirety of a person’s life or determine the value of their voice. By connecting incarcerated individuals with communities beyond prison walls, we strive to encourage understanding, reduce stigma, support successful reentry, and contribute to reducing recidivism. Our purpose is simple: to give people a voice, recognize their humanity, and show that a person’s story is greater than their incarceration.