Facebook vs. Face to Face 050612
Facebook/Mad Men mashup: This commentary by a pair of authors fostered this design that was inspired by graphics from the television series “Mad Men.”
Times Outstanding Leaders 031812
Times Outstanding Leaders 2012: Each year The Times editorial board highlights 10 (this year it was 11) individuals in the community whose leadership is noted by those around them. They are nominated by friends, neighbors, co-workers and sometimes the board comes up with names on their own. There are no “qualifications” but those nominating must justify the validity of their nomination. It always poses a design conundrum about how to display all the leaders in that one page. Usually, in the past, we’ve done full body shots of them standing in groups around the page, while inside with the profiles, we used mugs. This year, I thought I’d reverse that. Mugs on front; full body views with profiles inside.
Retirement reform debate 040112
Louisiana Legislature 2012: Created retirement “tree” using Adobe Illustrator to illustrate a guest columnist who was anti-retirement reform which is big on the governor’s agenda this year. I then requested a guest submission from one of the lawmakers who backed the reforms being proposed to get the “pro” viewpoint. Technology Note: Noticed the PDF version of this page has shifted the top column over to the left, but it wasn’t like that in print.
State releases district ACT score comparisons: Using Adobe Illustrator constructed a graphic to illustrate how students from area school systems performed on the 2010 ACT exams compared to 2011. The bar charts were generated using the Illustrator charting tool and then turned into editable shapes to form the basis for graphic representations of how the performances compared.
Rash of murder-suicides: In the first half of 2011, Shreveport-Bossier City experienced several murder-suicides that were almost all related to domestic violence. After the third one, we prepared this report and I designed a look for the presentation using the “silent witness” shapes generally associated with the victims of domestic violence. s
Elizabeth Taylor dies: When Hollywood icon actress Elizabeth Taylor died, editors asked me to design a special look for that day’s news about her death and long career in the film industry.
Raids take out local marijuana cultivators: The report was from several events that were photographed, but they were the usual police taking stuff into evidence photos and the photo editor didn’t believe the artwork was worthy of 1A centerpiece. I had other ideas which I implemented.
President Obama’s First Day 0122209:
Historic election makes for historic first day in office for new president: There was a lot of interest in the first few days of the Obama presidency after the inauguration ceremonies so I created a special look for 1A that continued the special feel of the inauguration coverage.
Shuttle Columbia Disaster 020203:
First day’s coverage of shuttle Columbia’s breakup in atmosphere: I designed the page for our coverage of the shuttle Columbia disaster. The fact that it was tracked crossing our airspace and that much of the debris fell within our readership meant that we put all our efforts into telling our unique version of this story.
Right Step What Went Wrong 021603:
Special report on failed local charter school: Our reporter followed the closure of a local charter school with an in-depth look at where the money went and how it was spent. It was a close look at a group of people trying to do the right thing led by a few people who did not. In the end, everyone lost. The concept for this presentation played off the subject matter.
Big guy; big news: With a major Air Force base right next to us, coverage of the war in Iraq was important from Day 1. When the military announced they had captured Iraq’s leader, our coverage expanded into the whole paper and the design for the front fell into my hands.
Special Section: Designed the look of the section which consisted of different components that all reflected that design. This the front of the main section. Other similarly-themed sections accompanied this one.
Stevens retiring: When news of Justice John Stevens retirement became official, I create the following look for our front page to illustrate the news and to give readers a look at the possible options to filling the blank space on the bench.
Music legend dead at 71: When Johnny Cash died in 2003, it was big news for Shreveport which is home to the old Louisiana Hayride which featured performers like Cash and Elvis before they were superstars. I decided to split the page vertically.
Jeff Benson 