Design

Design. When I think of that word in journalism, I think of the phrase "fake it 'till you make it." Maybe because when I became Editor-in-Chief, the people I had to help design had years of experience. And how many years did I have? Zero.

I was a newbie, what people would call a complete "noob" in design. But over time, I learned along the way, with countless YouTube videos and a million times where I had to dim my screenlight to search up a very embarrassingly basic InDesign question ("Hey Google, how do you text wrap?). I never told anyone the sheer amount of mock designing I did at home to prepare myself to help people, just to be safe. But it's not just InDesign. It's formats across Social Media and Broadcast as well.

This whole process of learning along the way has made me come out as a much better designer. I'd even consider designing, a once intimidating abyss, more of a friend now. But it took steps for me to get here... so let's take a look at how.

Recently, with our new designs, I helped place our newspaper 9th in the nation for NSPA's Best of Show in the Newsmagazine category, the first time in our publication's history.

Cover designing (print)

This cover I designed with two other people to encompass part colors and the colors of the TPT. One of the crowd favorite covers!!

Here's a cover I designed with my co-EIC, Cedric Tchommo. A cool detail to note is how I added the transcript of their debate that was aired in cursive words behind them!

In-depths (print)

**I designed this whole spread here. To subtly bleed in the red and blue, I colored the subheadings intentionally while mindfully making sure the space I used to design for each candidate was equal.

**I helped design portions of this whole spread here.

**I designed this whole spread here. I utilized Adobe Photoshop with the cover. The color scheme was key in making the pages flow (keeping the Black + Bright Blue).

**I helped design portions of this whole spread here.

Other designs I've done (print)

**I helped re-work a previous design (which altered the original design). The light purple streak was added to imitate a "bang!" of a volleyball and help the top half flow to the bottom half for a more cohesive design.

**I designed this whole page here.

**I designed this whole page here. This was our first photoessay in our newspaper. I added a key quote in the middle and took advantage of using rectangles and squares to create a pleasing page.

**I designed this whole page here.

**I designed this whole spread here.

Re-vamping designs (print)

PAGE 1 = rectangles and blocks of text

PAGE 2 = also rectangles and blocks of text

My issue with our past designs

The problem was that all the pages looked... the same. Page 1 is in a different section than page 2, and should have looked different, but everything in our newsmagazine looked like a rectangle, rectangle, then the body of text.

Section editors and I would fall into the bad habit of sticking to that format. But this year, I decided things needed to change. So I made a rule forbidding people from designing the same way we did last year. If they did, their pages would be sent back for revision.

It was tough at first, but through multiple steps, we were able to make great design progress.

Planning and inclusion is key

Last year, we often didn't have creativity because we started designing the moment we arrived at worknights, without any planning ahead. With such limited time and looming deadlines, we pivoted to our old ways.

Now, introducing designing brainstorming early on in the cycle, starting from Day 3-4 (out of 10-12), I required section editors to design every single article WITH the people who are writing it. They did a simple sketch; rough, but crucial for making the design process go faster.

I realized that the people who were writing the articles often never had a say in how it turned out. Thinking back, it was a little absurd. I was assuming only editors could design, but that was wrong. Creativity isn't limited; it's in everyone. Often, staffers give the best design ideas, leading to fresh and novel sketches.

Since we planned so far ahead, we weren't scrambling to get specific pictures anymore; they were pre-planned. Though the boat isn't always smooth sailing even now, it is worlds better than it was before.

Here, I'm marking tiny missing details on the "Pin board" of design pages.

Ever since we shifted our design process, we've been able to design 8 more pages per issue. (16 -> 24 pages)

Examples of revamped designs (not mine) I'm proud of (print)

Seeing the enforcement of using more colors, different colors, text wrap, and planning leads to so much.

Web designing (online)

Old formatting

New (encouraged)

formatting

Comments:

The old design on the left (SOL testing) on our website left a lot of blank spaces. This, in my opinion, didn't provide the smoothest reading experience. It felt a little clunky, and that's not what good design is. We needed something cohesive.

With our new encouraged formatting, you have an interactive half photo (as seen in the Web & Social Media section) that takes up the whole screen, drawing your attention. It overall feels more "grand" with the first letter of the article capitalized as well.

We try to enforce this new design when we have people on staff who upload their stories to WordPress. It has proven to be effective, since if you look at the old one, an editor named Hansika uploaded it in the broken format. The new design above is also by her, displaying a progression in how staffers have learned to website deisgn.

Social Media Templates (online)

My formatting and designing do not end with the physical print issues. As mentioned in the Social Media section, I revamped how our account looks by creating a consistent style that helps an Instagram account look more professional. So, I made social media templates. These help keep The Purple Tide's design the same from the physical paper to our website to our social media accounts. Here's what my templates and the final posts look like! (More info the the Web & Social Media Tab)

Broadcast designing (online)

"Don't judge a book by its cover." Yet, many brutal truth is that many readers will; it's how they get interested and hooked. So that's why, without an interesting and attention-grabbing visual, it can be a struggle to get readers/listeners. When we have podcasts uploaded, we always ensure that they have an appealing cover. Here are a couple of examples. The pop of colors here is key, along with the friendly elements that involve relatability.

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