Design
Reflection:
Design pushed me far out of my comfort zone.
It’s one thing to be creative when telling stories, but putting those creative thoughts on paper or on a website is a whole different ball game. As the online managing editor, I learned to have an appreciation for how good design is important for readability and function.
Website Design
To view the website pages in real time, click on the images below.
After receiving the Columbia Scholastic Press Association website critiques and meeting with other advisers and editors at workshops, it was evident work needed to be done on the design of The Bridge. I was tasked to make some changes. I noticed the judges were less concerned about the home page and had more notes on the interior pages for each section of the website. I was able to structure the design so the latest stories in each section were the first thing that caught the eye, but also trending stories would show up so there would be some sort of cross-link in between each section. By consciously designing every page, the staff could add more to the reader experience.
Magazine Design
To view the virtual pages, click on either image and click to pages 6-7.
For the semester magazine, I considered font treatments and graphics that would compliment my feature story on the state qualifying cross country teams. My inspiration began with the course from the state meet. All I heard heading into the race was how unique the course was, and how it was by far the toughest for the runners. With that idea in mind, I interviewed the runners about where the toughest spots on the course were, and put their quotes alongside the area where they struggled the most. The colors and type treatments and inclusion of graphics were meant to add a rugged, dirty vibe as a nod to a generally muddy race.
Social Media Design
To view each game day design, click on the image below.
In addition to being the varsity boys basketball team’s manager, I contributed to the social media page by creating game day graphics for each game. Since I took pictures at each game, I had more than enough content to be able to use a different player for each game. It was a simple design I was able to make quickly in Adobe Spark, by just inserting a photoshopped picture of a player and replacing team logos, dates, and times for the game.
Tommy’s Takeaways from Design:
Learned value of typography, entry points, sidebars, and alternative copy.
Using graphics to promote a game and enhance social media engagement.
Becoming familiar with a variety of software’s and web based software to create designs.