Charles Apple

FRIDAY, NOON

Peter’s morning session was on STDs.

My God, Apple, I hear you say. Just what kind of workshop are y’all teaching over there?

Peter really hates the term ASF, or Alternative Story Forms. So he uses STD: Story-Telling Devices. Not only does that acronym catch your attention better than ASF, it also serves as a clever way of making fun of acronyms. After all, no one will miss a session on STDs, right?

Peter showed many, many examples of short stories, breakout boxes, stand-alone graphics, charticles — whatever you want to call them. As I type this, he’s showing a series of grid-based designs. He says he loves grids. I do too — I showed a number of them on Thursday. Again, it’s really cool how all this ties in to our other sessions.

I was delighted when Peter showed a few examples from the Raleigh News & Observer. Seems like you don’t hear much about those guys these days, but they’re doing some really cool stuff — especially with this short-form stuff. My pal Teresa Kriegsman runs a great team there.

[Side note to TK: Please get well soon.]

—

FRIDAY, 3 P.M.

Lunch was wonderful, yet again. I had some sort of fish, in a lemon-like creme. And the Caesar salads they’ve been serving are the best I’ve ever had.

I also want to take a moment here to thank someone who’s been a great personal comfort to me yesterday and today: Alfred Monilla, Jr., a waiter here in the Champagne Room of the Manilla Hotel.

When we moved in here Thursday from the larger room, I mentioned to Mr. Monilla that I really needed to get a refill of water from time to time. They gave us water Wednesday morning but then didn’t give us any more for the rest of the day. I got awfully dehydrated. I think that’s a big reason I felt so poorly Wednesday evening.

So after my request, Mr. Monilla came over every few minutes and kept my glass filled. In fact, I began to fill guilty that he had spent so much time fussing over me. I told him today that I didn’t mean to send him to so much trouble. “I was afraid I was distracting you,” he said. “It’s my pleasure to serve you.”

[Side note to Bob, Miranda, John and Ken: How come you guys don’t say things like that to me?]

Anyway, I had to go out to the concierge desk to ask if it’d be appropriate to do something for him. Apparently, it is. And now, I’ve done something else; something he’ll probably never see. Mr. Monilla: I felt a lot better Thursday and today, thanks to your attention.

Mr. Alfred Monilla, who kept me very well-hydrated Thursday and today.

So, as I walked into the lobby, I ran slap into a huge crowd of Philippino and Chinese folks. There are TV reporters and cameras, print reporters and a couple hundred people gathering to watch.

I was delighted all these folks came to see me. But then someone told me it was some kind of political reception. Whatever.

We’re coming down to the end now. Only a couple hours to go. Man, have these past couple of days gone quickly.

As I type this, Kris is discussing intelligent use of color in news design and graphics. She’s shown a lot of work from Stephanie Grace Lim — formerly of the Merc — and Eric Wong of The San Francisco Chronicle.

Color isn’t a decorating tool. It’s a form of communication. You can use color to draw the reader’s eye to a particular point on the page. You can use color to convey information. You can use color to set a mood. You can use color to accentuate your content.

But you can only do this if you’re aware of what colors mean to your readers and the effect different colors have to our work. I’m not convinced most folks in the business understand this.

If you use color to convey information, make sure you use it consistently throughout your piece. We’ve seen a couple of examples of designers changing a color key in the middle of a page or a graphic. It can be awfully disconcerting for a reader.

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