With SND 45 in the books, board member Martina Ibáñez-Baldor set out to ask this year’s winners about their portfolios and tips for the rest of us. Steve Zimmerman, former designer at The Star Tribune, won two Silver print awards for individual portfolios in the SND 45 digital competition. Zimmerman is now a designer with American City Business Journals.
What is your current job title, and how long have you been in that role?
Interesting story: SND45 concluded right as my time at the Star Tribune, where my work from 2023 was recognized, was winding down. In May I accepted a position with American City Business Journals, relocated to Chicago, and started work as a news designer in the West Region, working on publications in Seattle, Portland and Hawaii. The National Design Desk at ACBJ has more than two dozen designers (including several past SND award winners). I’ve been at ACBJ for about a month now, learning the ropes of weekly magazine production, after three years concentrating on the daily at the Strib.
What do you love about designing for print?
I love the physical and kinetic relationship you have with readers. With print, you get one shot to connect them with the stories, photos and graphics you’re delivering, so you better make it count. It’s a special relationship, as a print designer, because you get to be the curator, the artist, the conductor and the conduit of content. With print you give readers something tangible that has much longer life cycle than a digital link or a bookmark, it’s something a reader can revisit, reflect on and to hold onto. I’ve always designed keeping in mind what I would want as a reader and it’s a stewardship I don’t take lightly.
Which of these projects was the most challenging?
The collection of Monday Business covers, no doubt. It’s one of the most coveted assignments at the Strib and really tests your imagination. Each assignment requires a cover illustration around an abstract topic and it’s all done in-house within a few days. The real challenge is keeping it fresh and engaging because the topics often revolve around similar themes (money, consumer finance, saving). The style I utilized matched keywords and icongraphy; sometimes the right idea came suddenly (like the Rubik’s Cube as a wrapped gift), more often than not the final illo came after trial and error and visual gymnastics to get the tone and spacial fit just right (financial hourglass for saving for college; dollar sign with hands). Credit goes to the Strib’s robust workshop culture — the whole design team gets involved in maximizing the visual potential of each cover.
What do you feel is the most important part of your design process?
Taking a moment, away from the computer, to sketch out possibilities and just ideate and doodle. It can be as little as 5-10 minutes, but just take a pause away from production to let your imagination wander, or just play a word association game to brainstorm visual potential and explore possibilities. It’s been super helpful for me to filter out lackluster ideas and get a gauge if an idea is worth pursuing onscreen.
What are your favorite pieces in your portfolios from this year?
I have two answers since I was fortunate enough to garner honors for two ports!
Sports: “Buckle up”
The Vikings playoff preview cover was a big hit. It captured everything we wanted to convey to readers in a fun, impactful way and captured the essence of the season. I was the art director on the project, with illustrator Rob Dobi, and worked through about a dozen options, but we were committed to spotlight the roller coaster nature of the season as the Vikings had a NFL-record number of fourth-quarter wins and thrilling endings. The emotions of Vikings fans plunged and soared as the season wore on and culminated with a home playoff game. The cover captured the ride the franchise took fans on in 2022, right down to the nervous expressions on the passengers.
Business: Puzzled?
This cover was one of the longest to conceive all year, but once the right idea surfaced, it was a KO. I tried 5-6 different concepts, on the difficulty of the gift-giving season, but they all felt worn out and pedestrian. It needed to have a holiday theme, but too heavy handed. It took an 11th hour doodle and mulling over past Christmas gifts and the word puzzle to bring this to life. Once it dawned on me the colored squares on a Rubik’s Cube match the wrapping on a present, I couldn’t scramble to a keyboard and mouse fast enough to get it on the page and posted for review.
What advice would you give to designers who are looking to improve their portfolios?
Spend more time brainstorming ideas. And not just one, but several. Cleverness goes a long way and avoiding clutter and doing too much is a common stumble. It was for me. Always add more white space around your displays than you think initially, going quiet and gaining separation can go a long way. Think big when it comes to projects with potential, you can always pare back later. Generate a visual keyword thought bubble or make the most of an image search on Google to brainstorm ways to juxtapose ideas/concepts. Save ideas you don’t use in the moment, or just decide to toss aside, for another time… they will often have another life.