Poynter Online - 2007-2008 Pacemaker Winners

Andover High School Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Things we like: Use of grid. Parallel construction of ideas on each person. "You want to sit and take a look at how people compare with one another." Even better: More on the grid -- "To go one step further, the type and the headline could have also been placed on the grid to make it much more powerful." -- Sara Quinn, Visual Journalism faculty, Poynter Institute	Harvard-Westlake School North Hollywood, California Things we like: Use of a dominant image. Clean typography. "Stop, drop, and...relax?" headline. "To ask a question is often a very compelling way to produce a headline. There's also a nice combination here of the contrast of the italic and the slightly larger text. It's clearly dominate over the other packages." Briefs across the bottom. "They're handled on a grid, which is really nicely done, and the images are well-chosen." -- Sara Quinn, Visual Journalism faculty, Poynter Institute
Crockett High School Austin, Texas Things we like: Packaging. "There's a nice hierarchy on the page. 'Home Run' is clearly the lead. They have headlines that bump, but they've clearly defined them with rules. I like the headline beneath it, the 'Winning Points' with the colon and the packaging of the image." Good crop on the photograph. "It seems to be a nice moment." Refers across the top are played well, proportionately. -- Sara Quinn, Visual Journalism faculty, Poynter Institute	Cranbrook Kingswood School Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Things we like: Simplicity of grid. "There's just nothing that draws the eye in a distracting way. The structure serves a purpose of making the content stand out rather than something that is over designed." Nameplate. "I think it is very elegant and sophisticated. On this page it works beautifully, because the image is the thing that jumps to the forefront." Dominant image. "It's really nice to highlight artwork done by students in a way that you can honestly see it." Even better: Include a caption under the dominant image: "In a student-focused paper you would want to include those names." -- Sara Quinn, Visual Journalism faculty, Poynter Institute
Eastside College Preparatory School East Palo Alto, Calif. Things we like: Style. "This page is fun. There's a lot going on here, but they have a clearly dominant center package. This woman has a lot of style, and there's an attitude that comes across. It's so much stronger than if she was just standing straight." Content. "They've done their homework to get information about the prices." "The edit is really important on this. You know, it's possible that one person might have been chattier than the other and you can get more from one than the other, but in terms of presentation it's important to show something in this parallel way. So you have to make those judicious edits, and they've done that." -- Sara Quinn, Visual Journalism faculty, Poynter Institute	Salpointe Catholic High School Tuscon, Arizonia Things we like: Working on the diagonal is effective. Imagery. "They've used a lack of imagery and they've made something work pretty well. They've posterized an image. The image on its own would have been a little flat, but at least they're taking a look at concept, this mass of cables that kind of come together." Making the most of it. "It might be almost one too many tricks. You have the filter on the photograph and the diagonal but I think that sometimes the best design comes from when you have nothing, and you have to really think about something that is a striking image. Often times cropping in on something works pretty effectively." -- Sara Quinn, Visual Journalism faculty, Poynter Institute
Naperville Central High School Naperville, Illinois Things we like: Typography. "Technically, this page is done very nicely. The type is handled in a simple way. While I am not a huge fan of putting type on a photograph, I think this was handled nicely because it is a simple bit of text." Photography. "The angle is great. The perspective is very unusual. There's an intensity and kind of a moment to the image." Consistency. "I like the sequence of the other three images of this guy playing the different elements. I like the way it is handled especially because he's cropped to be about the same in each image and it works very well as a sequence." To go one step further: "The photography in itself is pretty interesting. I think that it probably didn't need all the things that were added to it...I would have maybe chosen to focus just on the photograph and taken out the bars. I think they're decorative, which is not what I would suggest. I think that it's done nicely and if there had been some information that would have gone with that -- if that represented say a chart or something -- it would have been a very effective ways to integrate the images." "What we say around here is make every mark have a clear meaning, because if you don't give it a clear meaning, people will just ascribe to it whatever they think it might be. So if you intend for something to mean something, make sure that it means something. Otherwise, people will just assume. And you don't want to do that." -- Sara Quinn, Visual Journalism faculty, Poynter Institute	Mona Vista High School Cupertino, California Things we like: Briefs with images. "Images in the rail are handled well. Images within an index attract attention. We know that from EyeTrack studies." Interesting centerpiece topic. Conceptual thinking. "The centerpiece shows conceptual thinking. Tough to do, tough to do well. They've done a nice job." Even better: "The type and size are not very legible. Simpler use of typography, not making it curve would have been better. It's better to protect the typography than the concept." -- Sara Quinn, Visual Journalism faculty, Poynter Institute
Westlake High School Austin, Texas Things we like: Detailed cutlines. "Cutlines are so crucial to helping the reader follow the story." Continuity of images. Nice lead. "To start with a quote is very compelling and draws people in." "Typeface being organic in nature is appropriate to the story. Photography and color. "It works well for the color of the photograph to be light in a subtle way. If you're going to put type on the photograph, make sure it is light. It's handled appropriately here. Even better: Stronger grid. - "It's the foundation, like running spell check. It's important to stick to it." "It would have been nice to have a stronger grid or a reason why the bottom right photo stops there." -- Sara Quinn, Visual Journalism faculty, Poynter Institute	Phillips Exeter Academy Exeter, New Hampshire Things we like: Nice lead image. "Played with good size. Dominance is really important." Hierarchy of images down the page. Layering of information on the centerpiece package. "It gives people information at a glance." Real-time photography. "Real people doing things in real time is sometimes the strongest form of photography, documenting what's happening." To take it one step further: "Would have been stronger if headlines had a stronger hierarchy. 'Gym Roof' needs a bolder headline. "Subtler use of color on the teasers at the bottom, because it would let the colors in the photographs come out. They could be shades of gray or tone the color way back." -- Sara Quinn, Visual Journalism faculty, Poynter Institute
Lyons Township High School La Grange, Illinois Things we like: Photographic headline. "Taking a photographic solution to the headline. It reads like a headline. This one really works, because the size of the type in relation to the rest of the page is strong and dominant." Concept. "They are showing two different ways of cheating - writing on the hand and cell phones. I love the fact they have integrated the concept - That's how people cheat." Sophisticated use of color. "They've allowed photography to provide the color." Use of graphics at the bottom of the page. "It's really clean and relates specifically to questions people can understand." Even better: "The volume of body copy is kind of heavy. Cutouts could have been done with more finesse." -- Sara Quinn, Visual Journalism faculty, Poynter Institute	Hillcrest High School Dallas, Texas Things we like: Nice illustration. The illustration is black and white only, so they're thinking about the use of color. "Typography is handled well with the headline." Use of grid. "Grid format for the information is really a good tool when you're comparing things side by side." "This is darling. There's a lot of whimsy." Even better: "Suggest making the text in grid rag right instead of justified making it easier to read and making the names match up to each candidate across the top." -- Sara Quinn, Visual Journalism faculty, Poynter Institute
Johnson High School Austin, Texas Things we like: More than just a photo. "I love the fact that they have taken the studio photograph beyond just decoration by adding specific information in a caption form. It draws the reader in--these are points of engagement. If the designer had used the image by itself, it would have been flat." Layer information. "Eyetracking studies have shown that layering information--as they've done with these captions--is a great attraction for the reader." The total package. "The graphic elements are dispersed wisely around the page. It's easy to read. The type is clean. The overall structure and design of the nameplate is strong. The vertical nature of the nameplate typography is reminiscent of some very famous newspaper designs. This is a very strong page." -- Sara Quinn, Visual Journalism faculty, Poynter Institute	Midland High School Midland, Michigan Things we like: Eye-appealing. "The color scheme works because it not only mimics the color of cold weather, but a cool color like blue recedes into space and dark colors come to the top. It allows it to be a background. Conversational writing: It speaks directly to the reader. Clear message. "Easy to follow. Clearly numbered things. The background photograph works well because it's simple." Even better: Make the subhead stand out more. "It was a little hard to read." -- Sara Quinn, Visual Journalism faculty, Poynter Institute
Grand Junction High School Grand Junction, Colorado Things we like: Visualization. "Takes a powerful and often touchy topic and makes it a little shocking, which worked to grab my attention and made me want to know more." Strong, tough message. "The message I see here is 'racism is only skin deep.' " The page was "jarring and demanded my attention. This was compelling." Keep in mind: "The page is a little heavy-handed in its visualization. I found the treatment to be kind of jarring. Any time you see a skinless face, it seems kind of rough. But when you see that with the faces of students peeled away from the muscle and bone, even rougher." -- Steve Dorsey, Poynter Institute visiting faculty, AME for Presentation Detroit Free Press

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