Role: Designer, Illustrator, Photo editor, copywriter
Tools: InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Procreate, Hand sketching
Deliverables: Conference Booklet, Poster, Logo and brand guidelines, Unconventional marketing plan
Conference Goal: Adaptive Journalism seeks to connect journalists from a variety of backgrounds, allowing them to discuss different obstacles the industry is currently facing. This conference is occuring with the goal of uniting journalists and starting conversations about working in news media during a pandemic, covering racial injustice in a responsible way, and facing distrust in the industry.
Context + Problem
In the past ten years there have been significant shifts in the media industry. Currently the news media industry is experiencing pressure as it seeks to report on racial injustice responsibly, address the ongoing pandemic, and improve trust in the media, all while seeking to keep journalists safe.
When journalists do not feel safe and supported while doing their jobs they often produce lower quality work. The pandemic has forced newsrooms to work remotely increasing feelings of isolation. Violence targeting reporters and visual journalists during protest coverage has increased in the U.S. We have seen reporters arrested while broadcasting live, seen countless journalists pepper sprayed and hit with rubber bullets. One photographer lost her left eye to a rubber bullet while covering a George Floyd protest. As a whole the industry is facing opposition on a significant level.
Solution + Outcome
Adaptive Journalism seeks to address the complexity of this situation and to get journalists talking beyond their smaller circles. This conference will have people from all different markets and in varying points in their careers talking through many of the issues that the industry is facing. From discussing media literacy to deciding on plans for how they can best keep their coworkers safe amidst a pandemic, these conversations can help fuel change.
We hope these conversations will lead to action. We would like to see media outlets highlighting when journalists are targeted and supporting each other visibly. We hope that coming together and having these conversations will give journalists a direction to move forward as we seek to adapt journalism as well as help journalists recognise that they are not alone in this difficult time. We hope that bringing journalists of all backgrounds together will encourage community and spark productive conversation.
Process and Guidelines
Goal / Brief: This conference will connect journalists young and old over the topic of change in the journalism industry. Specifically we will look at how the industry has been affected by the pandemic and growing distrust in media as well as discuss how to best report on racial justice efforts in a responsible way. Our goal for this conference is to help those who attend grow and feel connected in thier industry.
Audience: Journalists of all ages, backgrounds, and experence levels. This should include student journalist and retirees. Journalism includes a large variety of media including web, print, and broadcast.
Naming: The naming process focused on a few methods. The final name choice was Adaptive Journalism to reflect the industries need to change with the world and adapt to best serve the public.
Logo creation: The logo process involved broad ideation through initial hand sketching, digital design, and ultimately a redesign of the digital sketches to create the final logo design. The process images, digital designs and final logo are displayed in the carousel below. The final logo utalizes the fonts Cormorant Garamond Bold and Proxima Nova Light.
Naming process
Typography: We enjoy the clean feel of Proxima Nova. We feel it represents us well. We use three different weights for various purposes. Headline and subhead can appear in both Primary and Secondary colors as long as contrast is maintained. Our body copy, in Proxima Nova Medium may be used in Black, White or our dark blue.
Colors: We primarily use light and dark blue throughout our branding. Additional secondary colors are incorporated through illustration.
Additional brand guidelines below
Poster
This poster design is simple and meant to be a quick read. The illustration reflects the target audience and a scenario that is part of the topic of the conference.
Booklet
This booklet is designed to guide participents through the conference. The design is small in size, intended to be a potential keepsake and to feel natural to carry around during a multiday event. We want this to be a valued product, rather than something that people have to lug around for an event and toss after.
Unconventional marketing
This interactive marketing campaign is meant to reach out directly to people who work in media. Journalists understand the importance of their job and the tagline “Is no news good news?” reaches out directly to them. Part of the campaign involves placing mock papers in newstands and requires the partipant to engage in picking up the paper to see the logo under the fold. The gif aspect is a supplementary use of this tagline that can run as banner ads directly on news sites and on billboards.
Reflection
I feel that this brand is successful in communicating its seriousness, as well as its hope for the future through visual language and programming. I think the type chosen for the copy and logo work reflects both the digital and print aspect of the media industry. I believe that in the future this conference could be expanded on with additional merchandise and posters that target different specific aspects of the broad journalism community. In many ways the idea of a journalism conference in general is sustainable as it is an industry that has existed for as long as the United States has existed. I do hope that we will make progress with many of the difficult topics that are being discussed and with that get a chance to pivot some of the topics being discussed.