Democratic National Convention

DAY ONE




DAY TWO




DAY THREE




DAY FOUR




DAY FIVE





During the convention, I was the celebrities and parties editor. I coordinated with a team of staff reporters, photographers, designers and copy editors, as well as a team of freelancers and interns for non-stop coverage. The reporters blogged, twittered and posted photos from morning til late, late at night (or early, early morning) on all things celeb, music, food, fashion and more. I worked for months, planning the coverage and presentation. I wanted my four daily pages to stand out from the rest of the news section they were included in, while not looking out of place. In addition to two daily gossip columns, I wanted tons of photos and lots of little blurbs and blips. I came up with general topics (street style, quotes, food tidbits, etc.) beforehand, adding items as they came in. I did the editing, assigning and photo editing and worked closely with the designer and copy desk to create these impactful pages.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/news/politics/denver-dnc/dnc-parties-celebrities/

Democratic National Convention, preview pages

Denver hosted the Democratic National Convention last August, and I was proud to be a part of the core planning committee. The following pages were part of a historic, special preview section that ran the Saturday before the convention began. I was givent the charge of creating four "fun" pages.




For this "My Denver" feature, I organized with editors and their staffs newsroom-wide to get a wide variety of locals to offer their hidden secrets as tips to visitors. I really wanted all walks of life represented -- from Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony to Bachelorette star Trista Sutter to local business leaders to a local rabbi. I chased down a lot of mugs and had to do a lot of editing for length, but the feature was popular. I also designed these pages.



I thought a poster page would be a nice break in the special section, and, after hearing about Oprah starting this vision board craze, thought it'd be funny to create Obama's board. I actually cut out magazine words and pictures and taped them to a board that was then photographed, leaving room for tpye. I designed this page, as well.



We wanted to run a calendar featuring as many of the upcoming events as possible, but I didn't want it to be a long, gray boring list. So, I worked with the designer to come up with this approach, featuring a key. This let readers know what was open to the public, where they might spot a celeb, what was free, what was at night, what was during the day, etc. I like how clean and easy it is to navigate.

Making a splash

As I was flipping through last year's annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, I noticed that the Denver Bronco cheerleaders weren't represented in the NFL cheerleader feature. So, I called up the team's coach and asked if her squad would model for us. She happily consented, and I organized this multi-media presentation. For print, we shot the cheerleaders in our studio, SI-style. During the shoot, I had a videographer on set, as well as a behind-the-scenes shooter. For Web, we had video and multiple slide shows. The shoot and presentation went off so well, the squad agreed to blog for us from their own swimsuit calendar shoot in Mexico. I posted daily blog items and photos from their adventures. The whole package was an enormous hit, bringing in more than a quarter million hits.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/may/30/lets-go-swim/

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jul/08/broncos-cheerleader-swimsuit-calendar-blog/





I kept thinking superheroes and swimsuits, and came up with this comic book approach. The artist wasn't thrilled about the assignment, but I'm happy to say he won multiple awards -- and no, he did not offer to share his prize money. I picked some of-the-moment superheroes, and worked with a stylist/makeup artist to paint on the looks. (No Photoshop needed!) Superman (a local minister who doubled as a model!), the Hulk, Poison Ivy, that blue chick from X-Men, all got painted up before they suited up. The details made the shoot. I love the towel that serves as Supergirl's cape and Jean Gray's painted-on boots and arm guards. And, of course, I had fun coming up with the comic phrases -- my favorite: "THWIP!" I also designed these pages.





For some reason, I was inspired by B-Movie posters and thought recreating them as swimsuit shoots would be a blast. To add another layer, I rewrote/imagined them to take place locally. So, Attack of the 50-foot Woman became Attack of the 50-foot Swimsuit Model ("If you thought T-Rex (the name of a construction project) was a monster, wait til you see a giant bikini-clad vixen stomping down Interstate 25."). Beach Blanket Bingo became Bergen Peak Bingo (shot on the rock climbing wall at REI -- oh, the wedgies!). And Creature from the Black Lagoon became Creature from the Cherry Creek Res (shot at a really rich person's indoor pool/outdoor oasis). I did a lot of Photoshop work on this one, pulling it all together. I still laugh at the touches of the hair stylist who posed as the little guy hanging from the car in the cover shot or the hilarious monster glove I donned in the pool for the Lagoon shot. This spread won first place for creativity in the Colorado Press Association Awards. I also designed these pages.

Holiday gift guide

Last year was the second year I organized a week's worth of gift guides. Because of the economy, I decided all gifts had to be $50 or less, and that we would include local gifts and a homemade gift (marked with "stamps" for each themed day. Keeping with the frugal theme, I thought it'd be fun to make the cover of each section wrapping paper. My grandmother always wrapped our gifts in the comics, and I love that tradition. A designer came up with the cute designs and I worked with ad makeup to let the "paper" wrap around to the back page when space was available. We had at least a double truck's worth of gifts inside each day, all following a set design. Readers adored the wrapping paper, and we received numorous thank-yous. All the guides were available online, along with step-by-step instructions or slide shows on how to make the homemade gifts.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/holiday-gift-guide/

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/nov/26/2008-holiday-gift-guide-fashion/

I'm a Miranda!

Fashion editor = Sex and the City fan. There's just no denying it. In anticipation of the movie, I came up with this quiz, with the answers letting you know if you're a Carrie, a Samantha, a Charlotte or a Miranda. I, like most women, assumed I was a Carrie. Nope, Miranda. Who knew?

See no evil, hear no evil...

I knew I wanted to use all the great jewel tones in stores for this fashion preview, but to add another layer to it, I asked the stylist to concentrate on the five senses. We paired subtle props with each "sense" to bring home the theme (an apple for taste, a feather for touch). I wanted the elegant clothes to be shown in a gritty, sparse setting, so we found this warehouse to shoot in. I love the way the model in the cover photo looks like she's floating.

Prom comes around every year, and every year, I try to do it differently. Last year, I went for the flow chart. I wrote it up, drew it on paper, and the designer created this fun spread.

Fight club

I came up with this March Madness-like chart to go with a review of David Mamet's new martial arts movie. I thought it'd be funny to pair up characters like Frank Dux and Clubber Lane. Apparently, I have way too much free time on my hands.

I heart charts!

Here's another example of a story that was cute (about songs readers fell in love to), but was difficult to illustrate. I decided to come up with this love song quiz. I wrote it up and drew a rough sketch for the designer, who made it look pretty. I was proud to work in Long Duk Dong, Don Drapper and the Snuggie!

I had a dream...

I was trying to come up with a cool way of reporting Martin Luther King Day, and I kept going back to the idea that his famous speech was so powerful, why not just run it and turn it into a beautiful poster. I wondered if the text could be displayed as his face, and a wonderful artist made it happen. I turned the page on its side, so readers could save it as a poster. (They could also download a pdf online to print on nicer paper.)

Designing woman

Here are a few pages I designed...



This was a creative way to present a preview story on an upcoming theater production of Pride & Prejudice. We decided to show the beautiful costumes via paper dolls. The photographer shot the actress and her clothes with that directive and I added the tags, dropouts, etc.





Another non-traditional approach to a theater preview. We went for a '50s teen idol feel.





Yes, this page is getting really old, but it's still one of my favorites because it always makes me laugh. The idea was to tell the Thanksgiving story using live turkeys as actors. Tiny pilgrim hats and headdresses were made for them. The copy is hilarious. And I love the cast box: Tom, Thomas, Tommy -- great actors, all.

Gossip Girl!

Here, on the Upper East Side...Call me a dork, but I love, love, love Gossip Girl! In honor of the show, I wrote an ode to all my favorite teen dramas -- from My So-Called Life to 90210 to Buffy. This double truck was the giant chart I created to show how all these shows relate to one another. I drew it all out on paper and the designer translated it beautifully. Note how the lines resemble a New York subway map. XOXO

Fashion shoots

When Desperate Housewives came out, I thought it'd be the perfect theme for a spring fashion preview. I cast models who resembled the characters, and used the Denver Design Center for the location -- ready-made home vignettes! Each scene was planned out to the tiniest detail -- from the garden hose I brought in for the Gabby bedroom shot, to the cupcakes I had made for Bree, to the toys I hauled in for Lynette's harried housewive scene. I had fun writing the intro in the voice of the show's narrator. I also designed these pages.





For this spring preview, I went green, pulling organic and eco-conscious clothing. The location? A recycling plant, of course. Nasty garbage everywhere, but a very cool shoot.

New features I created

I love to shop, and so do readers, but sometimes it's nice to get away from the malls and popular tourist districts. So, I came up with eat! drink! shop!, a monthly series featuring great shopping gems in Colorado. From international areas to small mountain towns to hipster paradises, we sent out a writer and photographer to bring back a slice of life, all presented in a clip and carry format, complete with map and parking tips.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/eat-drink-shop/



I always wonder what the homes of some store owners look like, so I started Open House, an occasional feature that offered just that. Stores ranged from a mod decor shop to a gourmet market to fashion boutiques to a hair salon. This page featured a high-end shoe store owner, who happens to be married to a former popular Rockies player.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jul/18/open-house-a-peek-inside-shop-owners-homes/