This page is the beauty of saved past templates. Funny enough, this page was the only design I didn't create from scratch or begin with a template and completely redesign it. It was a very structured design which made my job super easy. The only weakness I can think of is that I don't love how long some quotes are and how short some are as they take away from page symmetry and don't sit perfectly. I like pattern and organization, so even though it isn't something I can necessarily control, this page isn't my favorite appearance wise. As far as strengths go, I am so proud of how quickly it took me to compile this page. Once terrified to open up the Adobe InDesign software, I made it my goal to learn a new feature each time I designed a page by the end of the year. I am so sad this was one of my final designs as the Sports Section Editor for North Pointe. This experience was challenging, rewarding and something I will miss so incredibly much. I wouldn't trade this experience and learning opportunity for the world.

Going out with a bang, my last design for North Pointe consisted of several of my favorite elements. At first hesitant to design a page primarily about myself, I wanted to display myself over the years for a "coming-of-age" feel. This was going to be a challenge because as my last design ever, I wanted it to be perfect but also didn't want it to appear flashy or arrogant. This gave me the idea to make the spread have a "collage" feel with over lapping cutouts like a scrapbook to be appealing and add dimension while taking up minimal space. Additionally, I was able to sneak in another photo from the amazing results of my senior year soccer media day captured by Ian DuVernay for the mugshot. Although the left side of the spread looked amazing, I had a whole other half of the page with no story and art. I decided to take a risk and asked my advisor if I could extend the theme of intramural sports beyond myself and onto other seniors. She loved the idea and let me take creative liberty and I am so proud of how the page turned out. 

A common theme among the latest batch of my page designs is that I learned simplicity can look professional, giving a clean-cut edge. This page design was super different for me. Instead of covering a sports story with extravagant art, engaging cutouts that warp the text and a timeline sports calendar splitting the page, the page's focus was my writing. I was so enthused to write this story as it made me feel like a sports analyst and journalist, something I dream to be in the future. The only art on this spread were the mugs and the interactive QR code to still easily access GPN sports. Normally I would agree that art elevates the page and would be boring without it. However, I have full faith in my story to say that it is engaging enough and doesn't need art. Additionally, if you look closely to the fine details, every pop of color matches the aesthetic of the Lion's famous Honolulu blue and I am repping a Sam LaPorta jersey in my mug shot. Attention to close details with the aesthetically pleasing simplicity makes for one of my favorite pages. I am so proud of how far I've come, the lessons I have learned and how this page and story turned out.

This issue was a bit more on the "crunch" time side than anyone would have expected. Several deadlines were missed and not a single page was locked. Given these stresses, there wasn't much time for me to get creative with the spread. Although I couldn't necessarily get the most creative, I am not mad with how this page turned out. I initially envisioned a serving action shot cutout, but the provided photos for the story didn't allow me to execute this vision. This was a slight let down or bummer, but I still had mostly high enough quality images to create a vibrant and clean looking spread. Matching the aesthetics of the Lions theme on the previous neighboring sports page, I made the title a similar blue which unintentionally made the blue vibrance of the courts pop. Despite the design being a familiar look to past pages I have designed and not necessarily having a "wow-factor", I am content with how it turned out, especially during such a stressful rush to print.

I wanted to include this page not only to fully display every page I designed for North Pointe, but also to show growth and self-reflection. In fact, this page taught me a lot. Being brutally honest, I am not thrilled with the way this page turned out, but given the circumstance, it simultaneously exceeded my expectations. First, the main sports story was rocky. Aside from continuously missing the deadline, there was no art and only one paragraph written for the story each time I went to design the page. It made me extremely stressed and gave me minimal time to design or creative liberty. As a result, I feel like it looks decent but didn't meet my personal expectations. However, instead of quick hits, we decided to cover a new club at GPN. This allowed me freedom to redesign the lower half of the page and even place a cutout. Although this isn't my favorite page I have created, it was a huge learning opportunity and taught me that not everything goes accordingly to plan. 

This spread started out like any other photo story. It covered one sport and was a basic lay out. The majority of the photos were in their original rectangle or square format. The photos looked great, but the page felt so boring. It was too big of a weakness and I couldn't leave it. I decided to take matters into my own hands and went back to the drive with all of the photos. After scrolling around, I found a photo with three of the synchronized swimmers out of water smiling. It was super cute. This allowed me to realize I had forgotten the genuineness and wholesomeness of a a staged, smiling photo. It taught me that not everything has to be picture perfect. I removed the background, cut out the photo and added it to the page for dimension. I am super happy with how it turned out.

Issue 6 came along with its fair share of challenges. The story was really well written, however, was lacking in length. This meant I was going to have to get extremely creative. Aside from the one photo and caption I was given, I requested those on the story to gather some information about the new coach so I could use it to create a graphic and fill space. I chose to include this page design because it highlights my ability to blend aesthetics, maintaining the consistent green color scheme, with functionality, creating a visually appealing spread. The page design has a clean layout. I am not sure if this falls under the category of a weakness, but I think I was starting to get bored of this structure and missed having a variety of art to work with. I wanted to return to making cutouts and more, but I believe this page taught me the importance of simplicity while still maintaining a visual interest as it still looked nice. Moving forward, I hope to experiment and switch up the standard layout.

This page is one of my favorites since it further taught me simplicity isn't necessarily boring or a bad thing. My amazingly talented friend and photographer Ian DuVernay took amazing photos for almost every single winter sport, striking me with the idea to create a winter sports recap for the photo story page. This would be the first time creating a recap rather than highlighting one sports team. Not only would it spice up our usual one-sport coverage, but it provided every winter sport to be recognized while spicing up Page 7. Given Ian's amazing photos, the page looks so clean-cut and aesthetically pleasing. I love how the photos are in all different sizes and are so vibrant. I am super impressed with how this page turned out and think it can speak for itself. Ian truly was a lifesaver and the reason this spread turned out so amazing.

In arguably the best colors ever, this page had to be decked out in Maize and Blue. Whenever I am assigned to place a sports column rather than a sports story, I subconsciously acknowledge that I won't be able to spruce up the layout a ton. Sports columns are my favorite to write, however they lead to some design weaknesses. Maybe weaknesses isn't even the correct terminology. Perhaps a better term would be lacking creative freedom as they take away the opportunities to place innovative art, graphic, cutouts and more. Although the page is dull compared to previous spreads, I really like the color scheme and cartoon above to add a little dimension. Regardless of the page having less overlap and interactiveness, I still think it looks very appealing and clean-cut. I am content with how it turned out and learned sometimes simplistic is the way to go.

When it comes to designing the Sports Page 7, I know I need to do something outside of the box. This page is always designated to being a photo story, however, I despise merely putting down photos without an interactive element or a cool structure. It needs to be unique or I feel like I am not doing my job correctly. When I heard the story being placed was about swim, I instantly got a little nervous. I was irked by worries of how the photos would come out and was stumped by how I could create an "interactive" element. As the photography was uploaded to the story, I browsed through the excess photos, finding a crystal clear shot of the lane line. This gave me the idea to use it as a "border" before shifting to the captions. I was impressed with my innovation and creativity, despite the challenges and creative blocks. I hope to continue this creativity when designing future spreads. 

Issue 4 contains my most recent page designs. I honestly couldn't be happier with how they turned out. I absolutely love how I utilized themes, therefore using color purposefully rather than just to use a color. When brainstorming and making rough sketches for these pages, I wasn't sure what approach I wanted to take. The story was about wrestling, a sport I didn't know much about. As I seek interest in the sports journalism and broadcasting field, I know this is an obstacle I will continuously hit. So, I began with research and brainstormed how I could make the pages pop. I looked up equipment thinking cutouts could create a cool appearance. Then it hit me, I would get a cut out of the Wrestling team's mat and have cutouts of the player around it. A lot of my fellow editors had some doubts, and rightfully so, but loved how the page turned out. Minor details I am still proud about include matching the font color, mug backgroud color, and monthly sports calendar color to all match the mat's green color making the page more cohesive. All in all, I am incredibly proud of how this page turned out. My hard work paid off, teaching me to never be afraid to take risks or make mistakes.

Continuing with the cutout pattern, one oculd say I was feeling quite crafty this issue. For the sports photo story, I knew I had to change it up. I was getting very bored of the 'box' look always used. I knew it would be tricky but started drawing up possible page spreads. When I knew I wanted to use a cut out of a player shooting, I kept thinking that was too simple. I asked the people assigned to the story if they would be able to get a photo of a basketball, and confused, they agreed. I wanted to make it look like a player was shooting through the story. It ended up looking amazing and was not nearly as complicated as I imagined. The hardest and most time-consuming part was cutting out the player, trying to include as much detail and not accidentally erase her. I think this design concept successfully eliminates the box feel I was worried about. It keeps the page looking clean while having an eye-popping element. I absolutely love how this page turned out and am so excited to continue adding fun elements like this to future photo stories. 

This spread is monumental to me for several different reasons. I experimented with several new things. First, I wanted to use color more purposefully, so I stuck to one shade of green. Additionally, I discovered I can make the backgrounds of the quick hit mug cicles to a gradient color as opposed to a solid color. For a fun change I decided to try this while still using that green color. One of the critiques our publication faced was that the sports section wasn't inclusive enough. I agreed as we typically covered four different sports at max in the past. We brainstormed creating a schedule to fit somewhere on this page displaying at least one game for every sport during the month the issue is released. I initially had no idea where it would fit on the page, but after tweaking I am so excited with how it turned out. It makes my sports pages so much more inclusive. I am so excited to continue the calendar strip in future issues. My one criticism is I wish there was less white space in the gymnastics story, although I do love how the cutouts turned out. 

Getting relatively more comfortable with the InDesign format, I wanted to add a little spice to this issue's sports photo story. One of my peers in North Pointe is on the hockey team and I asked her if she could take a picture of her hockey stick. She laughed but specially taped it for me. Looking picture-perfect, I had a cutout of the hockey stick amazing pictures from the interns covering the story. I used a similar templete compared to last issue, and wanted to include the cutout of the stick to add a "3D" element. I made the stick drape over the upper right photo. I was excited to have successfully spiced up the page. Now that I know it is possibly to make the photo story page less routine and possess a "wow-factor", I was excited to see what my future spreads would look like. I learned I need to take more risks to earn more "wow"s.

For only being given two photos to work with design wise, I am not disappointed with how this page turned out. I like how the photos for the cross-country story have a scrapbook feel to them. I also am really proud of my experimental moving of the quick hits to the bottom of the page. My only complaint with the page is I wish I didn't use that lilac color for the quick hits. I want to use color purposefully in the future and be more thematic. Additionally, in the sports story, some of the indentations are excessively large and I wish I fixed or noticed that before publication. My lesson to take into the future is to recheck my work and take my time. This is essential to catching silly mistakes. 

I don't want to give this page too much negativity since it was a rocky road for the story to be completed. The story was initially supposed to be about the soccer team's cancer game, however the photos weren't the best. My friend in the class who also happens to be the best photographer I know went to their senior night game and took amazing photos. After getting his permission, I suggested switching the topic of the story to senior night. The photos on this page are amazing and the design is clean. I don't have much to criticize besides possibly trying a new format in the future. I think it is time to take on a new challenge as my skillset expands.

Beginning to design this page, I was terrified. I was a timid section editor afraid to press a button and make a mistake. I had so many ideas and creative thoughts spewing out of me, but was hesitant knowing I didn't have the knowledge to execute them. Surprisingly, I still like the way this page turned out. I can't name something that is specifically 'wrong' with it. In the future I would like to use color more strategically, and not just using it to use it. However, what I like most about this page is comedically an accident. I knew I wanted a cutout for the field hockey story but had no idea where to put it. After finally figuring how to cut something out, its position defaulted to where it is on the final page. Mindlessly about to move it, my team expressed how they loved the way it overlapped into the quick hits section. I totally played it off like that was what I had meant to do, but learned that sometimes going outside of your comfort zone can be a good thing and lead to an amazing outcome. 

As a timid newcomer to the world of Adobe InDesign, I don't hate this design. Actually, at the time I recall being extremely proud of the way it turned out. It's not exactly that there is something wrong with it, but the spread and design just feels boring and dull. In the future, I look to bring more spice and a 'wow-factor'. This design feels lackluster, but I am still content with it. I believe the photos are amazing and high-quality. I felt the need to include this page design because it represents my growth and comfortability to learn. I believe practice makes perfect.