Design a Rise Course Like an Editorial Feature

Building a strong Rise course doesn’t mean adding more interactions. Sometimes the better move is to borrow the principles of editorial design: deliberate pacing, strong type, visual motifs, and enough breathing room for the story to land.

Behind the Build: An Editorial Approach to Rise Course Design

In this behind-the-build walkthrough, Maestro senior LXD Brianna Hayes shares the design thinking behind an onboarding course for a fictional company called Hartwell & Co. The goal was to make a new hire feel like they were becoming part of the company’s story, not just completing another orientation module.

Start with the feeling you want the course to create#

The Hartwell & Co. course is built around a clear narrative idea: you are becoming part of a long-standing story, and you will help write what comes next.

That idea drives the visual choices throughout the lesson. The course uses warm colors and archival cues: a manila-file-folder-inspired header, print-photo styling, restrained interactions, and large editorial statements that feel more like a brand magazine than a standard eLearning page.

That’s the big takeaway before we even get into the blocks: the design is not about decoration—it’s build around supporting the onboarding message.

“There is a lot of history that has come before you that’s important to understand, but we want you to help us write the next chapter.”

This approach is useful for any eLearning course build. Before you start choosing blocks, ask yourself what should this experience feel like for your learners?

Replace the default lesson headers with custom ones#

For more creative control over the feel of the course, Brianna turns off Rise’s pre-made lesson headers. This lets the lesson headers behave more like subtle wayfinding elements than the main event.

Here’s how she does that:

1. In Rise, turn off the default lesson header.
2. Add a Paragraph block at the top of the lesson.
3. Set the paragraph block padding to 40 and 20.
4. Use a simple two-tone text treatment in a single size.
5. Keep the header visually quiet so the learner’s eye moves to the real opening statement: “Welcome to Hartwell & Co.”

The inspiration here is a traditional manila file folder. The header is not literally a folder tab, but it hints at one: symmetrical tab shapes, a manila background color, and softened edges.

That restraint matters. If everything on the page competes for attention, the learner has to do extra work to understand what matters first. In this design, the header says, “You are in the right place,” then gets out of the way.

Use transitions as part of the visual system#

The course continues the file-folder motif with a custom transition style between sections. Brianna notes that the same transition approach is used from the cover page and then mimicked in the next lesson.

To see how she created the custom cover page for this course, check out this overview.

The transition settings she calls out are simple but intentional. If you want to mimic this file-folder style transition in your course, here’s how:

1. Use the square style.
2. Add a small amount of roundness to soften the edges.
3. Adjust the amplitude until the shape feels like a tabbed edge.
4. Set padding down to 0 so the transition stays tight.

If you’ve used Mighty’s Transition block before, you know how creative you can get with custom transitions. When developing your transitions, consider how simple motifs like this file-folder design can support the course concept.

Build the intro like an editorial opening#

Below the custom lesson header, the intro text is contained in one block and styled with rich text editing. This is where the design shifts from wayfinding to storytelling. With carefully selected fonts and sizing, generous top and bottom padding, and a strategically place divider line, the typography provides a simple but powerful introduction.

Create one composite image when the layout needs to feel custom#

The next section uses a full-width image block, but the image itself is built outside Rise.

Brianna combines several stock images in Figma, including one that came from the Rise Content Library, then uploads the final composite as a single image. She also adds simple divider lines between the images that match the background color.

That small detail makes the images feel connected to the surrounding page instead of dropped in as a separate collage.

This is a practical workaround for moments when native block layouts are not quite enough. Rise is fast and flexible, but if you need a very specific editorial image treatment, building the image as one asset can give you more control.

Make the “why this course matters” impossible to miss#

After the image collage, the course lands on a large statement:

“As you help forge our path forward, it’s important to understand how we got here.”

This is the “what’s in it for me” moment for the learner. It explains why the history lesson matters to a new hire.

The styling reinforces that meaning:

1. Large font size (mostly 80-point type for the statement).
2. Alternating fonts to emphasize key phrases.
3. Alternating brand colors to highlight the contrast between looking backward and moving forward.
4. A visual cue below the statement (here, it’s an arrow pointing down to the next section).

That arrow matters because the course uses limited interactions. Instead of asking the learner to click, reveal, flip, or sort at every turn, the layout creates a self-paced reading rhythm. Space between sections encourages natural pauses, and visual cues keep the learner moving.

Why this matters#

It is tempting to solve pacing problems with more interactivity. But interactions are not automatically engaging, and they can add friction when the real goal is reflection, orientation, or brand immersion.

In this Hartwell & Co. example, the limited-interaction approach fits the purpose. The course feels like a guided editorial experience: scroll, pause, absorb, continue.

That is especially useful for onboarding content where tone matters. New hires are not only collecting information; they are forming an impression of the company.

Use typography mixing carefully#

In the “Our Roots” section, the header is set to 72 for a strong editorial scale. The section also includes a custom mark based on the company’s fictional founding year, 1988.

Because the slogan is “made to last,” Brianna plays with the two eights from “88” to create an infinity-like symbol. The idea is simple: the company has been around for a long time, and its products are meant to last a long time, too.

She also uses the slogan in the same font treatment where it appears as part of the company’s identity. That creates a visual connection between the mark and the line of copy.

But there is an important caution here: mixing fonts within a single sentence can get chaotic quickly. Brianna uses it only in small, intentional moments:

• To emphasize the backward-and-forward concept in the large statement.
• To preserve the brand treatment of the slogan “made to last.”

That is a good rule of thumb. If mixed typography supports meaning or brand recognition, it can work beautifully. If it is just there to make the page feel “designed,” it may be adding noise.

Pro tip: How to resize an icon directly in Rise with Interactive Columns#

One of the most practical Mighty moments in the build is easy to miss: the “Our Roots” icon is not placed with a standard centered image block.

Brianna uses the Mighty Interactive Columns block instead.

Why? Because she was not sure how large the icon should be in relation to the 72-point header and the body text below it. With a standard image workflow, she would have needed to jump back and forth between Rise and Figma, resizing and re-uploading until it felt right.

With Interactive Columns, she can adjust the image size directly in Rise.

Here’s how:

1. Add the Mighty Interactive Columns block.
2. Place the icon in the block.
3. Adjust the icon size inside Rise.
4. Test different values in context.
5. Land on the size that feels right with the surrounding type.

In the video, Brianna tests the sizing and notes that 20 looks absurdly tiny. She ultimately lands on 80 as the happy medium.

That is the kind of control that matters on a tight timeline. You can make a design decision in the actual course environment instead of bouncing between tools for every small adjustment.

You can explore more Mighty blocks and tools on the features page.

The editorial mindset for Rise design#

This course works because the visual system, copy, and pacing all point in the same direction. The file-folder tabs, manila background, large type, composite imagery, infinity-inspired mark, and carefully selected photos all support the same story: Hartwell & Co. has a rich history, and the learner is part of its future.

Here are a few takeaways for your next Rise build:

• Turn off the default lesson header when you need more design control.
• Use transitions as part of a visual motif, not just decoration.
• Let one large statement carry the learner’s “why.”
• Mix fonts only when the meaning justifies it.
• Use Mighty blocks, like Interactive Columns, when you need to make design adjustments directly inside Rise.

You do not need to make every onboarding course look like a magazine spread. But when the story matters, an editorial approach can help a Rise lesson feel more intentional, more branded, and more worth reading.

👉 For more course inspiration and behind-the-build insights, check out the Really Good Rise Courses space in Maestro Community (MC)!