The Daily Aztec

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The Daily Aztec
San Diego State Weekly Newspaper Publication

During my last year at SDSU I joined the illustrious staff at the Daily Aztec, one of the few daily college newspaper publications left in the nation. It gave me a chance to get a hands-on view of designing. I learned how to work with my fellow designers, collaborating on certain tasks and asking for help when I was stuck in a layout. I also learned how to work with editors, our clients of a sort. I learned how important it is to work as a team and to constantly keep each other informed, as things can easily get lost in translation in a buzzing office where the paper needs to go out the next day. This also taught me how to work on a tight schedule, and to make sure that the process of creating the paper came along smoothly.

I collaborated on the housing issue with Richard McPheters, the Art Director at the Daily Aztec. We were given free reign for the theme, and we decided to liven up the housing issue with birdhouses. We wanted something cartoony, lively, bright, and fun. The clouds in the paper’s background were designed with the movie Toy Story as an inspiration, using layers of gradients to give them a soft look. The bird icons all came from one body shape that was then modified to give them a distinct look and personality.
The birdhouses themselves stand out with their bold strong lines, simple shapes, and lively brightly hued colors. The color palette reflects a transition from spring to summer, with soft pinks and greens being balanced by warm strong reds and yellows. The page layout is very basic, but the illustrations give them dynamism and change from layout to layout.