DESIGN
DESIGN
To the right is one of the first graphics I ever made for our Girls Soccer team during my freshman year. I want to continue to carry that spirit into today.
Design was a category I thought I would struggle with - and to be honest, I'm still not convinced this is the judges are looking for, but I was planning what I wanted to include, and there was more than I thought. There are so many subtle ways that design sneaks into anything and everything that I do as a journalist whose main medium is visual storytelling. I've mastered Photoshop and Lightroom all on my own, powered by only my curiosity. While it may seem minor, every addition serves a purpose, and I try to serve it justice.
A thumbnail is important to give basic information about what a video is about, as well as any people it may be highlighting. Across three years of making thumbnails for hundreds of videos and livestreams, I've come to find that what a viewer looks for in a thumbnail is the same as what our stories are about: people.
While I did not make this video, I made its thumbnail. I simply came up with a catchy title, put the Grandview logo somewhere in the back, and added a few icons of items a coach might use. This is a pretty basic thumbnail that gets just enough of the information across. But it's not good enough.
By taking a screenshot from the video, I could capture a unique moment from each video that isn't such a copy-and-paste formula. This puts more emphasis on the subjects and the topic at hand, giving viewers a glimpse into what a story is about before ever clicking on it.
Our Dream Week was amazing, and in that spirit, I wanted to encourage people to click on this video by making Finn, our Dream Week Kid, the focus of the thumbnail. I also tried to add a few unique details by adding the University of Michigan font as a nod to Finn's dream. I also tried to highlight Finn in the words of the title by literally highlighting his name with University of Michigan colors, again, a nod to his dream and the focus of the video. All of these elements are what make up any given thumbnail.
I took this photo as our baseball team was fighting for their season at All-City Park. Highlighting the athletes and them on the bench shows the kind of community they've created. Including small details, such as putting the text behind the athletes, invites the audience to take a peek behind the athletes and find what stories are hidden beneath the surface.
Making fun and engaging thumbnails for our livestreams helps boost our engagement. For these types of thumbnails, I try to highlight what sport is being played as well as who is playing.
Finding information about when games are is super easy, but finding out what happened is the hard part. During my sophomore year, I realized this and wanted to put the necessary information into a clear and concise graphic at the end of every week. I'm dedicated to reporting equally on all our sports, which is why across the past 115 weeks since I started this project, I've reported every season-defining win, to heart shattering and season-ending losses, to everything in between.
Grandview athletics and the opportunity to report on them is what made me fall in love with broadcasting. I wanted to share that love by showcasing our sports. In this beginning graphic, I hid part of the Grandview logo as part of the background while adding the event's place, the final score, rankings of the teams, and any additional information about the event, such as playoffs/tournaments.
The next rendition of the sports recap graphics included more emphasis on the logs of teams. While this isn't my personal favorite graphic, including an inset feel of the logos helped me grasp how to use Photoshop to its full potential. This graphic also included information about when an event took place, as well as rankings, records, and, of course, the score.
While I didn't hate the first rendition of the sports recap graphic, I wanted to expand on it. I wanted to emphasize the photo, making the audience feel like they were getting an up-close look at each and every game. I also tried to go for a more elegant, formal feel with the font and sizing of the text. This is one of my favorite renditions of the sports recaps because of that. These are still being posted weekly on Sundays.
This should really be called "How I Increase Photo Size." Maximizing the photo and the athletes gives a unique feel to the graphic, again emphasizing the athletes and the contributions they make to sports. It still includes an unobstructed view of the logos, as well as rankings and records to understand the weight of each game. Now, these are being posted daily, after each event, and have the ability to collaborate with the team's pages, increasing traffic to both pages (also see Social Media).
Similar to our thumbnails, I realized that making the athletes the center and focal point of our game day graphics for Grandview's Sports Information Department would make our graphics stand out more. I try to include other important features such as where an event is, who they're playing, and at what time.