DESIGN
I use design as a tool to connect with readers by guiding their attention and making complex information accessible and engaging. Thoughtful design is what brings our community's voices to life on each page, transforming text into an immersive experience that resonates with our readers.
A SLICE OF THE DISTRICT PIE
The first package I designed as a News Editor focused on changes in local governance and their impact on community activism. My co-editor and I prioritized photo-heavy spreads to highlight voices of the community members we interviewed, and I incorporated cohesive, minimalistic red, black, and blue-gray design elements across the package, creating a polished and visually striking layout that grounded the narrative while maintaining a clean, professional aesthetic.
STRIKE OUT
For my story about Kaiser's historic healthcare strike, I focused on a minimalistic but impactful design. I drew inspiration from professional magazines to incorporate strikethrough typography in the bold headline, a bit of wordplay that would also grab reader's attention. My design began as a hand-drawn page sketch, where I envisioned a nitrile-gloved fist on the right page as the key visual element, as it would immediately convey the story’s subject. The final layout featured a blue-green background, reminiscent of nurse scrubs, paired with a clean black-and-white color scheme to maintain clarity and focus.
WHAT'S ON THE BALLOT?
My story about the propositions on California’s 2024 ballot is a great opportunity to show what my design process looks like. Starting from the bottom of this section, you can see my initial page sketch, as well as the professional inspiration — in this case, two spreads from "Wired" — that informed my layout and design choices. Further up is the draft I presented during our staff’s rough draft showcase. Notably, I discarded the idea of letters in "ballot" overlapping and returned to an element in my inspo spreads which I hadn't been able to work into my initial page plan. I received valuable feedback to create more contrast with colors for greater visual impact, which leads to the final version of the page at the top of this section.
