EDITING
EDITING
Natalie Ripps
Champion Journalist Portfolio
DESIGN
Calling out cancel culture
This layout was created for my column, "Let her Ripps". In this issue, I wrote a story about the toxicity of cancel culture. I love the artwork included in this piece. I expressed my vision to our illustrator, Lillian Sams, and while the idea of Applications as people digging a grave sounded very much out-of-the-box, she executed it perfectly. Because the artwork lacked an exact shape, I did struggle with how I should organize the text, but quickly learned how to alter the shape of text boxes and made each line hug the artwork. I am proud of the results.
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And the nominees are...
I designed this layout for one of my staffers' stories. Isaac Ramirez was assigned to write three reviews on movie nominees for the Academy Awards. While initially, I struggled to fit all the reviews on one page with the visuals and titles, I soon recognized a way to incorporate all elements into the layout. I appreciate this layout because I was able to highlight the unique color and shape of the art, ultimately drawing readers' eyes in.
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Mind of a coder
One of my fellow staffers, Andrew Robinson, wrote a 300-word story on a student who likes to code. This was one of the first spreads I made and was my first introduction to InDesign. Although new to the software, I was determined to make it unique and display it in an eye-catching format to attract all readers and set the tone for the section. After much brainstorming, my staff and I decided to take a risk and attempt to make the layout look like a computer, where if you flipped it to the side it there would be a screen with his photo and a keyboard that spells out the title. The process was a challenge, however, I immediately picked up on it. That week, I spent hours learning the software, the tools and techniques, and perfecting the ambitious design I chose for my first go. When I saw it in the magazine, it looked amazing. I knew design would be much easier and enjoyable for me from that point on.
Exploring the Eastside
This design was also part of the first magazine of the year. I was overwhelmed while creating it because I was unfamiliar with InDesign and was working on multiple other layouts at the same time. Because this story is about the unique history of the Eastside, I included a decorative map in the theme and a variety of pictures of different landmarks. I was determined to make this spread look different, and I was pleased with the results.
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Simpson is here to stay
“Simpson is here to stay” was one of my first designs for the magazine. Because this was a more traditional news story, I decided to go with a more simple look to let the photos tell the story. I used previous ODYSSEY magazines as a reference and my style book for design tips on how to make it visually appealing. This was definitely a great story to design because I was able to honor the OMG traditional layouts, while also putting my own twist to other layouts.
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Localizing Black history
I am proud of this layout because I worked with what I had. Because it was a news story about the mural that was painted downtown in the summer, we did not have many in-action photos. I decided to go with a bold layout with a photo that accurately portrays the emotion of the mural artist, Broderick Flannigan. He was so prideful in his work, and through the design, that emotion shows through.
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Creating Kombucha
“Creating kombucha” is one of my favorite designs that I did. Initially, I wanted to include a more artistic and free-spirited layout, including doodles or a collage, but after speaking to my advisor, he told an interesting point. The story is about the creation of kombucha in our community, and the vibes of the store, the owners and the story is very clean. There is a clear aesthetic. So, I scrapped my idea and went for a different look: the use of shapes, light colors, pleasing overlaps. All of this gave the reader an idea of what Figment Kombucha was all about before they read a word.
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Fashion anomoly
For this profile about Mike Fortson, a CCHS senior who created his own clothing line, I knew the layout had to express him and his clothes: an anomaly. Once our photographer, Krista Shumaker, took amazing photos of Mike in his sweatshirts, I had an immediate vision. I asked Mike for his sketchbook including his original drawings and designs of the clothes and I scanned them to include in all corners of the layout. I then included a compilation of Mike drawing, with his friend, and wearing the clothes to tell his story.
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Recognizing religion
I wanted this design to be bold like my column was. I wanted the page to scream, “Natalie Ripps”. My advisor encouraged me to pick out a name for my column, and after many suggestions and brainstorms, I chose, “Let her Ripps”. I included lighting bolts, fun fonts and bright colors to establish my presence in the magazine, all following the color scheme of the cartoon. I hope to continue with the title and layout design for future cycles to come.
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Experiencing food
Because I chose to do two stories in this issue of the ODYSSEY, I was running out of space in the section. I didn’t want it to look too busy, so I decided to go outside of the box and work with illustrator. After many YouTube videos, I learned how to put text on pictures and cut it out for it to fit behind a subject cleanly. This saved me space, gave me a cool design, and taught me a few more ways to work with illustrator.
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Five in-home workouts for the winter months
In the time I created this infographic, I had not had much experience with design, so this assignment did not come very naturally to me. After doing some research and looking for inspiration, I realized creating visually appealing products is something I enjoy. I compare this to my current design work as an editor and see how much I improved in terms of design.