newspaper feature designs by Jes Spivak at Coroflot.com

Newspaper Feature Designs

Newspaper Feature Designs from Jes Spivak

newspaper feature designs

Health: depression - The centerpiece focuses on a device that can be used to stimulate nerves to help people who suffer from depression. This is one of the first feature pages I created when I worked at The Beaufort Gazette in Beaufort, S.C. I chose to do a cutout with added white space to draw in the readers, something which was unfamiliar to the newspaper at the time. It received mixed reviews. It paid off because this was 1 of 3 that won first place for feature page design from South Carolina Press Association.

Health: lying brain - The photos were not strong enough to carry the page, so I created this multimedia illustration in Photoshop. I was told that reverse type was impossible (and forbidden) when I first started at The Beaufort Gazette because the printing press was old and jiggled too much. With the help of the pressmen whom I worked with, it printed successfully. This is one of three feature pages that won first place for feature page design from the South Carolina Press Association.

Health: bonding with baby with breast-feeding - Breast-feeding was a controversial news topic when I designed this page because a woman wanted to breast-feed her child in a Victoria's Secret's fitting room and a clerk told her it was against company policy. It turned out to be just the clerk's opinion. Reporter Amy Rigard wrote the story. Knowing we weren't going to get a photo of a woman breast-feeding I was approved to do this painting - a first for Gazette's newsroom. It won SCPA's first place in features design.
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Health: superfoods - With permission I set up a photo shoot for this centerpiece story. Photographer Megan Lovett and I brainstormed ideas. I bought the food (sweet potatoes were purposely chosen to look like muscles), and I printed the flexing arm outline for set-up, which we did together. While Lovett shot the photos I stood on a table in a dark conference room holding her lights. It later won first place for photo illustration and feature page design from the South Carolina Press Association. I also designed the page.

spicy foods - I found this high-resolution image on Kraft Foods' Website, so I used it to its full potential. I chose to use a red background for the utility information to reflect a "spicy" color, which also was part of The Gazette's color palette. It also won first place in page design from the South Carolina Press Association.

Traveling to Eden - Rangiroa is located in the South Seas and is a French Polynesian atoll of great beauty. This page successfully uses circles; a hard feat sometimes. The gorgeous, vivid photos speak volumes.

Health: emotions - In addition to designing this page, I also created this illustration, which I drew with crayons. Each color was intentionally chosen to represent the emotional expression.

Halloween food - This page was fun to design. The colors in the headline were chosen to obviously reflect the words. Though I haven't included the jump page where the stories continue, there are recipes on how to make these fun Halloween treats. The black background really makes the dry ice pop off the page. In addition to designing this section, I also chose the stories to follow the spooky holiday theme.
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the truth about bats; spiders as pets - Have you ever pet a bat? They're quite soft. I don't condone hunting one down to do so, but if the option arises in a controlled situation like a library program (my experience) or a zoo I recommend it. This is why I approached to design Reporter Cathy Carter Harley's story in this way (they're kind of cute). It's meant to inform readers the truth about bats; they really aren't scary. I researched online and included a list of local bats in the area, too.

Health: running shoes - Sandra Walsh wrote this story about how to choose the appropriate running shoe for your foot. I was able to create the footprints in Photoshop based upon the utility information in the breakout box, which I purposely made brown to reflect a paper bag that is used in performing the foot test. Photo Editor Bob Sofaly took the fabulous vertical photo.

Walterboro, S.C. is a treasure seeker's mecca - Another fun page to design. Just look at the photos! Reporter Sandra Walsh was responsible for taking these beautiful images - she often shot great photos for us. The background image was also hers - it's a substance called tabby, which is a type of cement made of shells and sand that was often historically used in the South. Many a sidewalk and cemetery is made with it.

Iceland - Gazette staff photographer Christophe Mallet and his wife Sharon traveled to Iceland for their honeymoon. The centerpiece package is a result of their documented trip. Christophe shot the photos while Sharon wrote the story. It filled three pages within the Sunday feature section. The photos speak for themselves and enhance the storytelling.

Travel to Iceland (photo page) - Beaufort Gazette's staff photographer Christophe Mallet and his wife visited Iceland for their honeymoon. Christophe documented the trip with photos as his wife wrote a story. This was a photo page that I had the pleasure to design.

Traveling to another area of Sin City - This travel page explores the beauty beyond the big lights of Las Vegas. I'm certainly drawn to Sin City's truly beautiful landscape. How about you? Got to get a map in there, too, to give S.C. readers a view of where it all is.

power + grace of the Trailblazer SS - I jumped at the chance to design The Gazette's cover page of the drive section, which included usually one wide open page of editorial content. The subsequent pages were automotive dealers' ads. You may notice that vertical rules (lines) weren't eliminated yet. It isn't apparent but those are dotted rules in the centerpiece between each leg of type.

private i - No visuals were available when I was designing this page, so I created this illustration using a multitude of mediums. Looking at the subhead now, I realize that it doesn't read well. But the printed version was legible. Because corrections were made in the copy before I got to work the next day, the left column doesn't exactly match up with the jump line.

proper beach etiquette - Visuals were not available during the time I was designing the page (I tried to work a day ahead of publication at the daily newspaper), so I executed this illustration. I got the idea from Reporter Amy Rigard when she explained to me her horrifying experience at the local pool, which is how I also came up with the subhead. Through her ordeal she developed her story idea.
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Learning Arabic - This centerpiece was created for The Gazette's Duty and Honor section, which focuses on stories for military families living in the area. The 3 military installations: Marine Corps Air Station, Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island and a Naval Hospital. Unfortunately the centerpiece had to be scrapped at the last minute because unbeknowst to me (and the editor) another designer used it the previous day. Based on research, I did the writings for the main photo and advised how it should be shot.

Health: the quandary of plastic water bottles - For this centerpiece package, I grabbed a blue from the photo and ran it as the background to draw in the reader. Then i faded the top and bottom edges for a more dramatic effect. I did the headline treatment in Photoshop to make it pop off the page, and the drop cap reflects this treatment. I purposely limited the color usage because of the high contrast, and increased the size of the body copy for better legibility.

Therapeutic paper flowers - I came across this story in one of my content searches for use in The Gazette's Duty & Honor section. A veteran started quilling miniature paper flowers and discovered it helped his stiff hands. He created these gorgeous works of art. He sold them at his local American Legion post.

autumn-colored table settings - This page was kind of tricky with all of the different elements that needed to be placed together. All of the elements intentionally line up to create a clean package and page. Like the "spicy foods" page I chose to use an autumn color to run as the background for the utility information, however in this case I purposely chose to run it up the center of the page to tie it all together and give the impression of being a table runner.

Christmas stocking stuffers - Another photo illustration for a centerpiece that I developed due to lack of imagery. This isn't my favorite creation, but it's clean. I would have preferred to have a rule separating the bottom two stories, however as part of The Beaufort Gazette's redesign vertical rules (or lines) were eliminated. Only horizontal rules were allowed. I didn't come up with the idea, I just followed it.

Earth Day

Celebrating Mother's Day - The only image available to illustrate this story was the portrait of mother and daughter. After reading the poem, I looked through our stock photo gallery for images of the magnolia, azalea and rose flowers that are mentioned in the poem.