Understanding and Using Visuals

Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic there has been a dramatic shift toward online content. Working from home, shifting live, in-person events to an online format, and communicating with colleagues and target audiences has all been reimagined in an online world. As the demand for online content increases, the responsibility of creating and envisioning this transformed content is now on everyone, not just the standard digital media or communications departments of an organization.

While interning remotely for the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions I experienced this first hand. With an extensive background in visuals and digital communication I saw an opportunity to share my knowledge with my colleagues so they would be prepared to create their own digital content. Below is a copy of my presentation, given at the conclusion of my internship.

SportsMonday: Images in print

Every Monday The Daily sports section publishes a special insert, “SportsMonday,” highlighting the events from over the weekend, with one event being featured on the front cover. For Daily photographers the front page of Sports Monday is coveted and, at least for me, its one of the motivating factors that push me to get more creative while I’m shooting and to make sure I’m getting images that really tell the story of the game. In this post I’ve compiled most of my covers from over the years, some shared and some solo, some single photo covers and some collages, and some Sports Wednesdays or Sports Tuesdays from when class schedules impacted the Daily’s normal printing days. My favorite part of Sports Monday is seeing the image(s) shine in print and come together with the writer to tell a complete story of the game. The creation process has always been fun as well, watching the sports section toss around headline ideas and the designer play with different layouts, colors, and fonts. Seeing the final product and the culmination of a weekend’s worth of work across sections is not only gratifying, but also unifying.

Photojournalism Workshop

As part of my work with the photo section at The Michigan Daily I coordinated a Photojournalism workshop in which we invited the public to come learn about the basics of photojournalism with the photo staff. I was excited to see a lot of Fall 2019 photo staff applicants there and was really impressed with their contributions to the discussion. We talked about everything from your rights as a photographer to what makes a good photo, after which members from staff took out small groups to photograph things on campus with these ideas in mind. Everyone got some great content and we were able to publish photos from all of the participants in a Visual Statement (check it out!) that was published in print, online, and on The Michigan Daily’s Instagram page. Interested in learning more about what we covered in the workshop? Check out these slides!

Senior trip to the printer, we’ve come full circle

Earlier this month, with only a few nights of production left, the seniors at The Michigan Daily visited Michigan Web Press to see Behind the scenes of the printing process. The tradition is something I’ve looked forward to doing since I was a freshman, especially after I saw the amazing photos my editors took on their visits to the printer. I was given special access to some of the more hard to navigate areas with endless photo opportunities. I could have stayed there all night taking photos of the ink covered hands of the employees and the blur of papers as they shuffle through the machines. To see the final step in the paper’s creation, to watch the photos we take and place in the layout actually appear on paper brought the whole production process, and my entire career at The Daily, full circle.
Check out my photo gallery on The Daily’s website here