« Older Entries  |  Front page

Charles Apple: The Visual Side of Journalism

 

‘Sports design’ archive

Number of comments in parentheses

May 15: A nice use of ‘data visualization’ style… but these are actual data-driven infographics

Last year, Bill Bootz of the Oklahoman of Oklahoma City was ripping through the NBA playoffs with a gorgeous series of poster fronts.     So, what’s Bill doing this season? Glad you asked. He’s building game-numbers infographics. Click for a much larger view: Bill tells us: I was searching infographics on Pinterest and saw one from the official site [...]

May 14: Two cool Sunday sports fronts from San Diego

This page caught my eye Sunday in the Facebook timeline of U-T San Diego. Click for a much larger view: Design director Peter Nguyen tells us: The concept actually came from Anthony Tarantino (former sports designer, current A1 designer) during one of our group brainstorms. Brainstorming is an important part of our process, because I feel the best ideas come [...]

May 10: Let’s go surfin’ now. Everybody’s learning how. Come on a safari with me.

Wednesday, the newspaper I work for — the Orange County Register — ran a terrific graphic on the back page of sports that explains some of the finer points of how to surf. First, put on some Ventures or the Beach Boys. And then click this for a much larger view: These graphics were reported, written and drawn by the [...]

May 6: A really cool interactive look at baseball salaries by the LA Times

Illustrator and cartoonist Greg Kelly tips us off about this really cool interactive graphic posted recently by the Los Angeles Times. This presentation breaks down the salary teams pay at each position and presents it in bubble chart format. Or, rather, half-bubble chart format. Because the really cool thing is the ability to dial up any two teams you want [...]

May 5: A look at this weekend’s Kentucky Derby front pages

Both Lexington and Louisville went with illustrations on the covers of their Saturday newspapers to advance yesterday’s 139th running of the Kentucky Derby. The Lexington Herald-Leader put this wonderfully graphic illustration by Chris Ware on the front, showing roses falling upon the downs. Meanwhile, the Courier-Journal of Louisville went with a photoillustration of a trainer who had five horses running [...]

April 19: There’s something you don’t see every day on your agate page (1)

From an anonymous source this evening: A baseball agate page in progress. Hopefully, we won’t see another week like this one for a long, long time.

April 12: Pro tip: Never made a ‘mud hen’ angry

The Toledo Free Press — located in Toledo, Ohio, home of the famous minor-league Toledo Mud Hens — pulls out all the stops every spring for its baseball preview edition. On the left, here, is the free tabloid’s 2010 cover. The other two are the paper’s two 2011 front covers: The one in the middle is the actual front cover [...]

April 12: Everything you ever wanted to know about the visitors’ locker room (1)

Talk about finding a fun story in a place where you’d never think to look! Sharon Henry — a former “visual columnist” for the Orange County Register who moved away but then returned to the paper last winter — took her amazing sketchbook skills into the locker room at the California Angels stadium this week. The visiting locker room. Where [...]

April 10: Roanoke Times honors a local kid done good… in the Final Four

Louisville’s Luke Hancock — named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four basketball tournament in Atlanta this week — transferred to Louisville from Virginia’s George Mason University. But even before that, Luke grew up in Roanoke, Va.; Hidden Valley High School Class of ’08. Today, the Roanoke Times paid tribute to Luke with this poster page. My old pal Michael [...]

April 9: Today’s NCAA basketball championship pages

Here’s a brief look at today’s NCAA men’s basketball championship pages… — COURIER-JOURNAL Louisville, Ky. Circulation: 154,033 Huge photo with everything else pushed off the front page: Check. Picture shows players celebrating a national championship beneath falling confetti: Check. Punny, celebratory headline: Check. Looks like the Louisville paper today did everything it needed to do and did it well. The [...]

April 8: Today’s NCAA Championship preview pages

We’re well into April now, and you know what that means: March Madness is nearly over. Tonight, Michigan and Louisville play for the NCAA men’s basketball championship in Atlanta. Here’s a look at today’s pages advancing the game… — DETROIT FREE PRESS Detroit, Mich. Circulation: 232,696 The Free Press goes all-out once again with a spectacular photoillustration of the Wolverines [...]

April 7: Newark’s coverage of the basketball scandal at Rutgers

You’ve all seen the video of the Rutgers basketball coach verbally and physically abusing his players. You’ve also seen the Saturday Night Live parody of that video. And you’re probably aware that both the coach and the athletic director lost their jobs as a result of that video going public. Did you know that each of those two officials pocketed [...]

April 7: A look at today’s Final Four pages (1)

Here’s a quick look at the day’s Final Four pages… — DETROIT FREE PRESS Detroit, Mich. Circulation: 232,696 The Free Press put Michigan’s tight, five-point victory over Syracuse into the skybox this morning, with a big, red word that seemed to sum up the entire game.   The page was designed by Joe Cybulski. The picture was by Julian H. [...]

April 5: A fun sports front from the Houston Chronicle

I know just what you need this morning: Some Special K. Click for a larger look: That was Thursday’s sports front from the Houston Chronicle. Sports editor Nick Mathews tells us: The Astros struck out 43 times in their first three games this season. It was a franchise record for a three-game stretch. Designer Jason Baum was the man on [...]

April 4: How to throw a fastball (1)

Last year’s burning question at the start of baseball season: How do they get that little criss-cross pattern in the outfield grass? The Washington Post provided the answer. This year, the burning question is about trend in baseball is fastball pitching. It’s on the rise, reports the Wall Street Journal. In 2003, there were only three pitchers who threw at [...]

April 2: A couple of baseball Opening Day pages from St. Pete

Tom Bassinger of the Tampa Bay Times sends along a couple of baseball pages this morning. He tells us: We set up the Tampa Bay Rays season with stylized player images and Opening Day facts and figures. There’s such enthusiasm on Opening Day, and I wanted to see whether we could bring that kind of energy to our presentation. Click [...]

April 1: A look at Monday’s Final Four basketball tourney pages

While Sunday’s March Madness pages weren’t anything to get excited about, today’s were a bit more spectacular. — FREE PRESS Detroit, Mich. Circulation: 232,696 The big story of Sunday’s game was Freshman Nik Stauskas, who successfully fired off six three-point goals. The photo on the front of today’s Free Press shows Stauskas after one of those dropped in. That picture [...]

April 1: A fun cartoon illustration for a baseball preview section

Here’s a fun Opening Day baseball page from the Daily Journal of San Mateo, Calif. Sports reporter and designer Julio Lara tells us: We’ve been super busy with other end-of-the-year features at the Journal that this project really came together at the last minute. I got really lucky, a good friend of mine, April Vallero, is a hell of an [...]

March 31: A quick look at today’s March Madness pages (3)

It’s great to see Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall plastered on the front of the… — THE EAGLE Wichita, Kansas Circulation: 67,250 Marshall is from Greenwood, S.C., just up the road from my hometown. He also spent several years leading my alma mater, Winthrop College, to the NCAA men’s tournament. In eight or so appearances, Winthrop never made it out [...]

March 31: How a small paper pays homage to a local boy-turned-sports hero

This will be the first baseball season since the 1980s without Kevin Millwood of Bessemer City, N.C., on the mound or in a dugout somewhere. Millwood retired this year after 16 years of major-league baseball. Gazette sports editor Gabe Whisnant tells us: Millwood is the longest-tenured MLB player in Gaston County history. He announced his retirement this offseason, so on [...]

« Older Entries