I was lucky that in my first year on staff, I was thrown right into creating layouts. Without any real training, I struggled a little but the staff and my advisor were very supportive in teaching as I created the layout. 

With a really small staff this year we were not able to produce a print newspaper but below you'll find the layouts I created for The Orator. 

This was the first layout I created for The Orator in October 2020. This was my first time opening up Indesign and I am grateful to the editors and my advisor for being patient with me as I ask a million questions about the software. The background photo is of an abandoned grain silo that people often climb and paint messages on top. It acts as a billboard for whoever is brave enough to climb it. At this time #SaveOurChildren was trending nationwide on social media to bring awareness to human/child trafficking. The idea was for the recognized landmark within Omaha to act as a headline. 

This was my first full spread working with multiple staffers to coordinate stories and graphics together. Due to issues with our Adobe licensing, we were not able to get this issue printed but we made it available online on the website which started our online presence. Going forward all issues of The Orator Newspaper were made available on our website as PDF's

The idea for this spread rose from the in-depth coverage we were doing about post-secondary life. After students graduate they have a couple of paths to pick from such as going to college or moving away from home much like how The Game of Life is. I got to have a lot of fun with this spread and it's one I'm proud of. 

If I were to recreate this spread I would change the infographic in the middle. It just stands out and was created by another editor without the entire spread in mind. I would change the infographic into The Game of Life playing cards to keep with the overall theme. 

This focus layout earned 7th Place at the 2021 NSAA State Journalism Newspaper Layout competition as well as 6th for In-Depth Coverage. 

I continued with the Focus and Last Look spreads in the last issue of my sophomore year.