‘Illustration’ archive

April 24: How two student newspapers are dealing with the week before finals

This week is “dead week” at Indiana University. It’s the last week of classes. Final exams are held next week. This week is intended for study and reflection. Which is a bit of a joke, of course. We didn’t fall for that back when I was in college way back in the 20th century. And students don’t fall for it [...]

April 21: A fun golf section front illustration today in Omaha

Today, the World-Herald of Omaha, Neb., inserted a golf guide special section. The section was designed by Jay St. Pierre, who tells us the cover is… …an illustration of a few of the wacky and entertaining stories we ran on the inside, which include former Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch hitting a bird on a tee shot. Dave Croy did the [...]

April 20: Today’s most interesting front-page illustration (1)

A noted visual journalist — one I shall not name — writes this morning: Maybe I have a dirty mind (which makes me a good copy editor, right?), but I do NOT think sandwich when I look at this. I mean, I get what they were trying to do, but … The page to which she refers is this one [...]

April 19: ‘Quite possibly the dumbest series logo I’ve seen in a newspaper’ (1)

That’s what someone I follow on Twitter called this logo used by the New York Daily News to denote ongoing coverage of the Secret Service vs. Prostitutes story. My tipster tells me: It was in today’s NY Daily News. Not sure if it’s a recurring logo or if it was brought out today. Here’s my question: It probably took you [...]

April 18: Drudge Report getting ‘creative with graphics today’

Tim Herrera — reporter and social media editor for amNewYork — reports today via Twitter: Sure enough, if you check out the Drudge Report, you see three little icons there on the left side of the page. Here’s a closer look at them: Very cute. Find Tim Herrera’s Twitter feed here.

April 18: Etch-a-Sketch time for the Philadelphia Daily News

Forget the “Etch-a-Sketch” for presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Let’s get one for the Philadelphia Daily News. Consider this… — JUNE 8, 2010 Before Game Six of the Stanley Cup Finals, the Chicago Tribune sports section ran an amusing “very special pullout poster” of Chris Pronger of the Philadelphia Flyers: Very funny, right? Some people were not amused, of course. Among [...]

April 15: Fun front-page illustration depicts Facebook’s software engineers

Today, the San Jose Mercury News ran an interesting story on the learning curve — “Boot Camp,” they call it — through which Facebook puts all its newly-hired programmers. The Merc‘s Mike Swift writes: Bootcamp is one part employee orientation, one part software training program and one part fraternity/sorority rush. When new engineering recruits are hired at Facebook, they typically [...]

April 15: They might not have been ‘innovative.’ But today’s Titanic front pages were, in fact, effective. (3)

I was loathe to write about today’s Titanic front pages. Before I even thought out getting out of bed this morning, the Poynter Institute’s Julie Moos posted a large number of front pages from the Newseum. I changed my mind, though, when I saw this tweet from Ian Hill, currently of KQED News in San Francisco and formerly of the [...]

April 13: A stunning look at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by the Cleveland Plain Dealer (1)

Back on Tuesday, we looked at a series of full-page poster pages illustrated by Ted Crow and published this week by the Plain Dealer of Cleveland.         The pages commemorate acts that will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this Saturday: The Class of 2012. If you liked that, hold tight. You’re gonna [...]

April 11: Page-one illustrations drawn on an iPad with a free app (1)

On the front of the Forum of Fargo, N.D. today: Diagrams that explain “tile” drainage systems to remove standing water from agricultural fields. The interesting part — interesting for those of us who do not operate farms, I mean — is that the illustrations for those graphics appear to be hand-drawn. Appear to be. But they’re not. Forum graphic artist [...]

April 10: Honoring this years’ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees with a series of posters

In advance of the induction of a new class of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members, illustrator Ted Crow created a set of full-page posters that have inserted every day this week into the Cleveland Plain Dealer. David Kordalski tells us: It’s a reprise of the work he did in 2009, but these are much nicer … we simply [...]

April 9: A fun way to illustrate gas prices eating up your budget (1)

This one was sent to me a week ago, but I lost it in the shuffle of my return from Nigeria. It’s a great page, too, despite it being a week old. My apologies. Click for a much larger look: Hugo Torres of the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson sent us the page and also filled us in on the [...]

April 8: Cool front-page watercolor illustration by a tiny California paper

I’m familiar with neither the Napa Valley Register — a 12,710-circulation daily in Napa, Calif. — nor the work of illustrator Kelly Doren. But I just love the watercolor illustration she created for today’s story about the area’s possible glut of hotel rooms. And the way the Register played that illustration on page one today. Click for a much larger [...]

April 5: A starting lineup of the day’s best Opening Day front pages (3)

The first Major-League Baseball game of the season was played last night in Miami. — UPDATE – 5 p.m. Mark Friesen of the Portland Oregonian points out: Third game of the season, actually. Seattle and Oakland played two games in Japan last week. Ah, who counts the American League? That designated hitter stuff ain’t real baseball! Anyway, point taken. — [...]

April 2: What’s up with that all-orange, no-type front page from France? (1)

You may have spotted this at the Newseum today. The Newseum, in fact, named Libération one of its Top Ten front pages of the day. Here’s the front: The text in the middle reads: Bayrou lost in the middle What does that mean, exactly? The story is about French politician François Bayrou of the centrist Democratic Movement, or “Modem” party. [...]

March 30: For your Friday enjoyment: Two truly clever illustrations

As you know, I spent the past two weeks in Nigeria teaching infographics. But all of you who have attended any of my sessions over the years know: I never teach just what I’ve been hired to teach. I see the job of a visual journalist as being much bigger than that. Our job is to tell the story, no [...]

March 24: More about my week teaching here in Abuja, Nigeria (1)

First of all, I’m sorry I didn’t get anything posted Friday about the work we’re doing here in Nigeria. I edited down a few pictures Friday evening but when I tried to upload them to my blog, the ACES site went down. I figured I had somehow crashed the entire ACES operation. Instead, it turned out to be a technical [...]

March 20: Paths not taken today in Nashville (1)

By now, you’ve heard the news: Former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning has signed with the Denver Broncos. This is — and will be — huge news in Denver. And perhaps in Florida as well, because the smart money is saying that the Broncos will now try to deal Tim Tebow to the Jaguars, putting Tebow back into his hometown [...]

March 19: Huntsville designer Bethany Bickley moving to the Virginian-Pilot (1)

Bethany Bickley — a brilliantly talented designer and illustrator for the Huntsville (Ala.) Times – is moving to Norfolk, Va., to join the staff of the Virginian-Pilot. She announced today via Facebook: It’s official! I’ve accepted a news design position at The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk and will start in 3 weeks. I’m thankful for all that I have learned in [...]

March 12: A look at a few notable Bracket Monday pages

Today is one of the biggest days of the year for any sports section: The day we present to our readers this year’s NCAA basketball tournament brackets. Years ago, all the better papers out there began building their sections around themes. Over time, those themes have become a) more inventive, and b) better executed. Meaning it’s a great time to [...]