Design
Website Design
Ever since I attended SNO (School Newspapers Online) website design and strategy sessions at the NSPA/JEA conventions in St. Louis and Boston, I have adored the versatility of designing digital journalism. Because of that, I promote easier audience access to stories and more compelling new elements on the Statesman website (https://lhsstatesman.com). In turn, the website has also received more SNO Distinguished Site Badges than ever before, fueling my fires to keep innovating our web design.
This is the old layout of the website from 2022. While somewhat similar to the current design, it utilized few widgets and did not showcase as many stories as the current format. Because the website has grown further since 2022, I also shifted the layout to display the increased stories published by the staff to establish the importance of our web element.
This is the current layout of the Statesman website. While it has shifted in many ways, the key changes include an updated logo, an automatically-cycling recent story carousel, new widgets and it has an established space for multimedia stories. With widgets like the weather, custom polls, social media links and staff bios, I embrace adding engaging elements to add more to unify the website. On top of this, the sections for each beat are larger and have more stories to make reader access easier. In the end, I completed a full redesign to better interact with viewers and accessibly display the exciting stories the Statesman tells.
Paper Designs
With the Statesman's paper element, design is a critical aspect of our monthly news magazines. Over the past three years of making layouts, I have embraced my love for blending photography, text styles and artwork. Now, I constantly look forward to representing my story on a visual basis.Â
This design comes from the October 2022 Issue. The story centers around a local dance collective that performs in parking lots around Sioux Falls. To visualize this, I included many photos from performances arranged with frames, colors and linework to give the appearance of a parking lot. Furthermore, I used artwork and a popping headline style to lure audiences into the article and world of the unique modern dance nonprofit.
This design comes from the March 2023 Issue. The article covers a downtown Sioux Falls bookstore that prides itself on inclusion and hosts open mic nights for musicians and poets to build a lively community around. Inspired by the artistically bookish atmosphere, I used original photos of the open mic and the bookshelves to create a collage. For the headline, I continued the collage look with varying text styles pushed together. Through the collage and text pages, I aimed to show the literary, musical and inclusive sides of the Full Circle Book Co-op.
This design comes from the January 2024 Issue. In this story, I discussed Terra Shepherd, a Sioux Falls boutique that specializes in sustainable and ethically sourced goods. Because the store promotes eco-friendly living, I utilized natural colors, vine artwork, and many original photos to convey the sense of Terra Shepherd. I also included cutouts of clothing tags, with one signed by the clothing maker themself, to provide visuals for elements covered in the article.
This design comes from the December 2022 Issue. This piece features a LHS counselor who doubles as an aerobatic pilot and leader of the Vanguards, an airshow performance team. The story's subject matter led me to include a jet-trail headline, artistic photo frames and an atmospheric color palette. With this design, I focused on showing a familiar face to LHS in a dissimilar and adventurous setting.