The winner of the 2017 SND Foundation Scholarship is Lucy Naland, a student at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, Lucy was, chosen by a panel of four judges, will receive a $2,000 cash award. Lucy’s portfolio focuses heavily on editorial design with a little typography design thrown in for good measure. I asked Lucy to share a little about herself:
Tell me about your path in life and how it has brought you to graphic design.
I worked at my high school newspaper for four years, which introduced me to editorial design. At that point I still wanted to be a writer, but I always enjoyed working on the paper’s layout. I started at Syracuse as a newspaper and online journalism major but got a job three weeks in as a designer at The Daily Orange, Syracuse’s independent student newspaper. Within two months I completely fell in love with the work I was doing and switched my major to graphic design. Newspapers and journalism, combined with my lifelong love of art, are what brought me to my field of study, which I think explains why I’m so drawn to editorial design.
Go in depth about why you like editorial design so much.
Growing up, my career aspirations ranged from being an author to an illustrator to a movie director to a journalist to a graphic designer. I love storytelling, and that’s what strings those careers together. Building pages, creating art and working with beautiful photography is incredibly fun, but news design never stops at just being pretty. It’s about blending visual appeal with utility. Good print or digital design draws the eye, getting more people to pick up that paper or click on that headline. The work journalists do every day is admirable and I love that I can use my passion and skill for design to help tell stories.
Tell us why you are a member of SND and any opportunity you’ve had because of your SND membership.
I actually only recently became a member of SND, but I have seen the opportunities it creates for young designers. The group’s tight-knit community also motivated me to join. I love getting to know other newspaper designers and I’m excited to meet more people within the society.
Anything else you want us to know?
During my internship at The Boston Globe this past summer two of my coworkers gave me hundreds of postcards that illustrators had sent them over the years. Each postcard features examples of an illustrator’s work, and I used them to find artists to collaborate with and to decorate my desk. I love postcards and how type and imagery are used in their design. I started collecting them a few years ago and I make a point to buy one with artwork I’m drawn to whenever I visit a new place. The Globe postcards are now displayed on the walls of my apartment at school along with others from my travels. I love the pops of color the cards give to my space and how, through typography, illustrations and photos, each one serves as a reminder of a past experience as well as my interest in design.