Design
| COVER PAGE |
Click image to enlarge.
This is the cover page of the Huron Emery Volume 6, Issue 4. I co-designed this page with Opinion Editor Ridhima Kodali. Neither of us had designed the cover page of our newspaper before, so we were nervous going into it but were thrilled with the end result. The photo of Michael Sumerton and his children is the dominant. It catches the eyes of the reader nicely because of its bright colors and size compared to other components of the page. The grey outline of the thumbnails (left side), the grey rectangle enclosing the news briefs (bottom left) and the green line separating the "Transition to hybrid learning for AAPS" (right side) all help to separate different components of the page and create a more visually appealing experience for the reader.
The design process - in depth
Click any image to enlarge
The very first step in my design process is evaluating my assignment. What am I trying to accomplish? What materials are already given to me? In this case, I was assigned to create a spread on the Covid-19 vaccine. The only materials I was given was a "Vaccine pro" article by Copy Editor Allison Mi and "Vaccine con" article by Staff Writer Gabriela Dimova. So going into the design process, I now knew that I had to create graphics and add additional components to the spread such as an infographic or timeline.
ASSIGNMENT
INSPIRATION
I find my inspiration from Pinterest, NSPA Design finalists from previous years, Google search and my fellow designers for the Huron Emery. Here is some of the inspiration I used when designing this spread. The "Our hidden issue" and "Stressed out" spread were previous NSPA Design finalists. The two designs helped me brainstorm ideas for how to layout my spread. I found the third image by Google search. I adopted the "red vs. blue" color scheme of the pro/con infographic.
Next, I create a couple sketches of potential layouts for the spread and dominant graphic. Sketching helps me brainstorm ideas and create a plan before going into InDesign.
MOCKUPS
FIRST DRAFT
​
The next step of my design process is creating a first draft in InDesign. I placed all my body text, headlines, bylines and graphics. I also created a timeline of the Covid-19 vaccine. 99 times out of a 100, I don't like my first draft very much - and that's ok! This step of the process is just to have something, anything, in InDesign. After I have a first draft, I send it to the rest of the editorial team. Then, we look over the "first drafts" of all the pages. This way, I can give other designers feedback on their pages, and other designers can give me suggestions on my page as well. Working together as a team is what makes our newspaper so successful!
The next step of my design process is "trial and error." What did I like about my first draft? What didn't I like? For this spread, I liked the dominant graphic and the headline font. I also thought the red and blue rectangle complimented the pro/con articles nicely. I didn't like the layout of the page, because when we print our newspaper, it would be awkward to read text going over two pages. To fix this, I moved the graphic into the middle, so the text was all on one page or the other. I also felt like the timeline looked out of place. I decided to extend the red and blue rectangle to cover the entire page. I was scared to do this at first because I didn't know if the bold colors would be too overwhelming or tacky. I'm glad I took the risk, because it helped to unify the page. I also moved the timeline over to the right side and added the writers' photographs over their bylines.
TRIAL AND ERROR
Trial and error is most of the design process. I try something on the page, evaluate and then make changes. I still had empty space on my page, so I added a Q&A with a teacher who had taken the vaccine. News writer Lydia Hargett did the interview for the Q&A. I was able to get help from Lydia, because throughout this entire design process, I am communicating with my team. When designing pages, it is so important to keep the other editors updated on my progress, so I can receive suggestions from other designers and get help if I need it. I also decided I would add the results from a student poll in the bottom left corner. Something I didn't love about the page was the timeline. I later decided to add a black rectangle in each arrow to make it more visually appealing. I would also end up changing the skull on the dominant graphic to a hazard symbol.
MORE
TRIAL AND ERROR
After lots of trial and error, I reach a final draft that has all the materials on the page and looks visually appealing. Now, all that's left to do it copy-edit and print!