Saturday, January 28, 2006
Critique: Minor Drinking Feature (2.9.06)
Minor Drinking Feature Critique
This week I was in charge of the four page feature. It was tough coming up with new, creative ideas after last week’s contest. Many times while designing I had to stop myself from using the same techniques that I used last time, or that Andrea used for the feature. For instance, I kept wanting to make my lead photo bigger, but the bigger it became, the more it looked like last week’s design.
I ended up using one of the ideas I had sketched out earlier, using silhouetteses of liquor bottles to create a headline that really pulls the reader into the story. Originally I also made prison bars that mirrored the bottles, but that was taken out because 1. MIC offenders don't actually go to jail and 2. It made the spread look too busy.
The headline was originally behind a black background, but that made it compete with the photograph. We changed it Monday night to a lighter shade of blue to go with the lead photograph. Then tuesday afternoon we changed it again to just be the black line. Overall I was very happy with the headline art, and I think the color background just didn't fit with the tone of the story. I'm glad I took it out.
There were also photo issues this week. The lead photograph started out as a girl of-age being carded at a club. The ethical issue about the photo was that paring that image with the headline saying 'Minor drinking,' gives the impression that the girl is trying to pass for overage instead of actually being 21. We changed the photo order around, so the lead picture is now used bottles and cups of alcohol. I am still pleased with it. The colors are much more vibrant than the original photo, and the verticle line within the picture contrasts nicely with the horizontal layout. It also shows very bluntly what the article is about: drinking.
My second page was a little difficult to create because I knew there would be a 300-word sidebar, two pull quotes that played off each other, and two photographs. This seems like a lot, and it is, so it was very important to me that I fit everything on the page without making it seem busy or crowded. I think it worked very well. I'm proud of this feature, and happy it turned out well.
This week I was in charge of the four page feature. It was tough coming up with new, creative ideas after last week’s contest. Many times while designing I had to stop myself from using the same techniques that I used last time, or that Andrea used for the feature. For instance, I kept wanting to make my lead photo bigger, but the bigger it became, the more it looked like last week’s design.
I ended up using one of the ideas I had sketched out earlier, using silhouetteses of liquor bottles to create a headline that really pulls the reader into the story. Originally I also made prison bars that mirrored the bottles, but that was taken out because 1. MIC offenders don't actually go to jail and 2. It made the spread look too busy.
The headline was originally behind a black background, but that made it compete with the photograph. We changed it Monday night to a lighter shade of blue to go with the lead photograph. Then tuesday afternoon we changed it again to just be the black line. Overall I was very happy with the headline art, and I think the color background just didn't fit with the tone of the story. I'm glad I took it out.
There were also photo issues this week. The lead photograph started out as a girl of-age being carded at a club. The ethical issue about the photo was that paring that image with the headline saying 'Minor drinking,' gives the impression that the girl is trying to pass for overage instead of actually being 21. We changed the photo order around, so the lead picture is now used bottles and cups of alcohol. I am still pleased with it. The colors are much more vibrant than the original photo, and the verticle line within the picture contrasts nicely with the horizontal layout. It also shows very bluntly what the article is about: drinking.
My second page was a little difficult to create because I knew there would be a 300-word sidebar, two pull quotes that played off each other, and two photographs. This seems like a lot, and it is, so it was very important to me that I fit everything on the page without making it seem busy or crowded. I think it worked very well. I'm proud of this feature, and happy it turned out well.
// posted by teresasanserif @ 5:57 PM 
