Color-tastic

Spent some time on the Poynter site and I found a great tutorial on color. When I am designing, color is one of the first things I like to decide on. It's interesting how color can create a mood and guide a reader through a spread. The tutorial, which can be found here, is definitely worth a look. Great tips on contrast, complimentary colors, and using color on the web.

Election Design

I'm a little behind on this, but I wanted to share my favorite front page from Nov. 5th. It was cool to see how all the newspapers across the country, even the world, decided to showcase a moment in our nation's history. Looking at all the papers side-by-side, the Chicago Sun-Times' version caught my attention. It's simple, direct, and doesn't over-do it.


If you are interested in checking out more front pages from Nov. 5th you can visit the Newseum website.

It's times like these when I wouldn't mind working for a newspaper.

Jump on the political bandwagon

I skimmed this article from the New York Times a week or so ago.

The article highlights the new weekly paper now offered by the popular coffee chain, Starbucks. The paper, called "The Good Sheet", will come out weekly and offer a new political issue each week. Set to coincide with the election season, "The Good Sheet" will be issued for 11 weeks.

I first saw this article through a blog I check regularly. I really like the concept. Politics don't tend to interest me. I've somewhat paid attention to the media fodder, but honestly, what I've heard from that hasn't been about the issues. Well, it's been about issues, per se - say Senator Palin's pregnant daughter or Senator Obama's not-exactly-PC comments - but I've not seen much about the politics at hand.

That being said, I'm interested to see what exactly this paper has to offer. According to the article, Starbucks is hoping to generate conversation about these issues through "The Good Sheet". It seems like it is a good idea. Hopefully it is a way to get some of the issues and the candidate's stances out there.

One concern I have is that, as the Times article says, the papers have a emphasis on philanthropy and activism. So, the issues don't sound like they are being presented in a completely unbiased light, unlike how they would appear in a newspaper or other media outlet. I guess a slant in the direction of philanthropy can't be all bad, even if it is a bias.

I'm anxious to see this. I haven't been to a Starbucks since I saw this article, so I guess this is a good excuse to shell out the money on my favorite fall latte - pumpkin spice! - and see what it's all about!

Has anyone else seen these? Even if you haven't, what are your thoughts?

Here it comes

Classes started today. The first day of Senior Year.

Things went just fine today. Surprisingly, the shuttles weren't the clogged mess they generally are on the first few days of the semester. Classes seem like they'll be alright. I'm excited for my visual classes (Magazine Design and Information Graphics).

Today I had the lab portion of my Design class. I'm hoping that they whole class isn't as basic as today was. We did a really simple layout in InDesign; all things I've learned before. I'm banking on the lecture portion being a little more helpful.

I kind of miss writing for the paper, although I'm sure that once I get started with Info Graphics I'll be plenty busy.

The strangest part of today was walking through campus and realizing that it is possibly my last year of school. That, and most of the students were younger than me.

The importance of presenting both sides

I have been waiting to post here because I wanted my first post to be something meaningful, insightful. Definitely not a rant. But, as my time at my school's daily newspaper comes to an end, there are a few things that still sit on my chest.

Over the summer, I have worked as an education reporter. One might think that in the summer there wouldn't be much to write about in the education world - at least that is what I thought when I heard my beat assignment for the first time. However, the summer has turned out to be full of "education drama". There has been a lot to cover, including budget cuts, superintendent criticism, failing standardized test scores, and finally, the resignation (or retirement, as it is being called) of the schools superintendent.

Surprisingly, there has been a lot of breaking news type situations over the summer. When it comes to getting the news first, our goal has been to beat our across town competitor to the punch. I've slowly realized that it is maybe more than just getting the scoop. Our rival reporter is catty sometimes in the posts she makes on her blog. She is "competing" against undergraduate, student reporters and doesn't always come through first - or better. And she gets the facts wrong.

The paper she writes for enables a section for readers to respond to articles and blog posts. Today, I was tempted to leave a comment pointing out the holes in her story concerning our district's interim superintendent. Yes, the man seems to be a really great administrator and person. Yes, the community seems to be happy to see him return. Yes, he graciously took far less in salary than was offered to him. These are all facts that I believe she included in her story.

However, I believe she left out crucial information that shows that, while the man is clearly a good person, his reasons for working part-time are not truly altruistic. The man is coming out of retirement to help the district for the coming school year. In order for him to continue to recieve his pension and retirement benefits, it is mandated by the state that he work no more than part-time (550 hours over the 10 months he is contracted for).

I really feel this is information that should have been included in our competitor's article. For our article, we included this bit of information. What do you think? Is it pertinent to include that side of the decision to work part-time, or is it alright to leave it out?