The Blaze Copy Editor | 2025 WI Student Journalist of the Year
Design
My very first year on staff, I was given the role of design editor. Our Editor in Chief at the time said she saw a lot of herself in my skills and thought this position would be a perfect fit for me. A few weeks later, after trying design, I told Mrs. Corbett that being design editor wasn't for me. I felt being copy editor would better accompany me and my strengths. After talking to Mrs. Corbett and our EIC, I became co-copy editor of the 2023-2024 Blaze yearbook staff. Regardless, I still work hard to make every spread I design better than the last and I keep expanding my abilities.
My Designs
Hours Away - This showstopper was the first spread I ever designed. I was given a lot of free rein, considering that showstoppers are non-traditional and can be made however the designer deems fit. Putting this spread together was definitely both a growing and a learning experience.
Another Chapter - Match the Term - The secondary on Theater came from my lack of knowledge on theater terms. For the design aspect, I chose to try to make the secondary generally basic. I felt that there was already so much color and detail in the photos, I didn't want to distract from them. I also feel that having her sit on the words gave the spread a bit of depth.
Tuning In - The idea for my secondary "Tuning in" came to me after Mrs. Corbett told me about all of the true crime podcasts she liked to listen to. My first thought was "I wonder how many other teachers listen to podcasts?" I immediately started doing my research. I asked every teacher of mine if they listened to podcasts. I asked them what their favorite genre was and who the podcasters were. When I had gotten everything I needed, I decided on doing something different with the design of my secondary. Borrowing inspiration from the Theater spread, I tried to make the album covers look as if they were really there with the staff.
Memorable Destinations - As a person who enjoys traveling, I wanted to know if my peers shared my interest. I wandered the halls of school, looking for students who had yet to be interviewed, and pulled them to the side. This secondary not only added to the book, but it also helped me learn more about the people I spend 7 hours a day with. Stylistically, I chose to have a line throughout my design to represent the route on a GPS. Looking back, I wish I would've chosen more detailed graphics. These ones don't really fit the style of the book, but I believe it did fit the theme of "On Our Way."
Out with the Old, In with the New - Juliana Mora and I used inspiration from another yearbook to create this spread. We chose to make the phones ourselves to add more of a challenge to creating these pages. As simple as it may look, this spread took hours, if not days, for us to complete because our goal was to make the phones look as realistic as possible. If I had the chance to remake this spread, I think I would just use a real phone and change the contact information to make it look like the person we interviewed was texting.
Swing into Season - Although I didn't design this entire spread, I did design the "Start Things Right" secondary. Having more design experience under my belt, I would now probably choose to do something with a baseball diamond. I was not very proud of what I ended up with, but I wanted to include it in my portfolio to demonstrate that not everything is going to be perfect the first time around. During this time, I was still learning, and I believe we as journalists need to give ourselves more credit for what we create.
Sip on Success - This entire spread was a group effort all around. Due to the extreme temperatures during finals week, I knew I wanted my secondary package to incorporate our Cocoa and Cram event and the weather outside. I chose to redesign a cup our previous photo editor had made and adjusted its colors to make it complement the spread. For the photos, I chose to lay them out with a custom template our design team created.
Off Court Press - The basketball spread was the second spread I designed on my own. It took a lot of rearranging and messing around to find what worked best, but in the end, I was very proud of the finished product. I chose not to follow our original template for the photos. For the secondary, I rotated their quotes to make them appear as though they're in a calendar. Then I added the "Girls" and "Boys" in a transparent font to separate the two practice schedules.