EDITING DESIGN

My favorite spread from this year was from the February edition. Overall, I think the layout is beautiful. It is easy to read all of the stories, and they were kept separated well (laying out a page sometimes takes me a while). I also love the color pallet. This is purely opinion but I think the sage-y turquoise color looks phenomenal. But, I also like the way that the brown I used to create boxes matches to browns that are seen through the photographs on the page. This was also a pivotal publication as I was starting to remember how to cut people out of photos without constant Adamson help (I'm giving myself a pat on the back for that).

I am going to be ruthless here, but I do not love my March spread. I think the font used for “Embrace the character” sends a shiver of pure abhor down my spine every time I see it. I also think the gray box that overlaps the cloudy blue one clashes too much and loses contrast. If I were to do it over, I would find a way to make the two pages look more cohesive, as I feel the different fonts and color choices make the spread look choppy.

Working on the style page, I have learned a lot about Photoshop. For my page, I often need to lighten up photos and cut out people so that I can place them strategically on my page. I have always struggled with spatial reasoning… not just in the paper, but also in life. I feel over the course of the year I have gotten better at how to space words and photos on a page (by using strategically placed color blocks, and text wrap). However, I will need more practice before I master this skill. In Indesign, I have learned a lot about text wrap. It doesn't seem like a big deal but it can be the difference between an aesthetic page and something that feels overcrowded. The one thing I find the most annoying in Indesign is the eyedrop tool. I feel it should be an intuitive tool but I can never get it to pick up colors, and if I don't know where to put the color.

This was the first opinion article I wrote for the paper, so I found it difficult to write. I had spent a year desperately trying to avoid opinions in my stories, so finding the perfect balance of facts and opinions was a challenge. The biggest change that occurred was the addition of a counter-argument. Though it has been drilled into me since elementary school that a good argument will address the counterargument, I had forgotten to add one. Rey was very kind about it, and let me fix it without any rudeness (even if it was production day).

The process of writing this story involved more research than anticipated. Partially because I didn't want to leave Rey hanging, and because I was curious if there were any true regulations on the subject. I took my time to find official documents like the actual Arizona state code. It was confusing to read (and I may have gotten my mom's help) but I think it helped to create a well-researched and true story.

Although it scared me, it was the first story I had people talk about that I wrote. I noticed multiple people throughout the day mention it, and my math teacher even asked me about it. Not everyone agreed with what I had to say (and I think that's the beauty of the opinion page) but it got people debating.