The Villages Daily Sun
Production Editor
The Villages Daily Sun serves one of the fastest growing areas in America – The Villages retirement community, which spans over three counties in Central Florida. The print-only product has been a finalist for the Society of News Design World's Best designed newspaper repeatedly. Upon graduating from Ball State University, I joined the design desk.
2017 - 2018 | Lady Lake, FL | Full Time
As a production editor for nearly 2 years, I designed pages, wrote headlines, edited news, created graphics, and drew illustrations. I was most often drafting the front page and designing a news section of up to 30 pages. The front page is a collaborative process that involves nearly everyone in the newsroom: deciding on images, headlines, and altering the plan on the fly for any breaking news.
Primary skills
Editorial Design | Wire Editing | Writing | Print Production | AP Style
News Design
Working on the front page often meant pulling data, graphics, imagery, or other visual elements to create a cohesive and inviting package. I also worked on breaking news projects, features, and special projects.
Design Process
About the role
IDEATION
Designers are a type of storyteller. One idea we honed in on was that of layering and multiple entry points. How can you design a story to catch someone’s eye to read more, or have a takeaway, even if they don’t finish it?
ITERATION
With my idea for the seasonal story on mistletoe, I knew that I wanted to illustrate it. I started with a reference and drawing, then outline as I finalized the color scheme with what would work well in print.
INTEGRATION
For this story I was writing within the design system, adding headlines, pulling numbers, and trimming to fit so that this story would meld with the pages that came before it. Especially with a limited space of a half page.