Charles Apple

Dean Lockwood of the Express-News of San Antonio writes:

We got a little edgy and decided to recap the week of Democratic speechifying by doing a display page capturing a cross-section of various quotes.

I came up with the concept (after thinking “You know, this is an event, a week, that is ALL about words.”)

Adrian Alvarez came up with one mockup. Nan Keck suggested the shotgun-of-quotes approach Adrian ultimately developed it.

Idea came Tuesday night. Adrian mocked it up Wednesday. Our editor, Robert Rivard, took one glance Wednesday afternoon and decided, “Let’s do it.”

Spent some time today going through various quotes with editors — decided to keep it to people who spoke or were delegates at the convention. Kept in some not-necessarily-positive quotes, though this is obviously the Democrats’ page.

Very cool, Dean. And a keepsake for those blue-leaning folks out there.

Um, all three of them. In your particular area. No offense intended.

The page runs Friday. Dean adds they intend to give the same treatment to the GOP convention next week.

For a larger look, whack the thumbnail:

See more of Adrian’s work in his NewsPageDesigner gallery. Find Nan’s pages here.

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Meanwhile, Denver Post graphics editor Jeff Goertzen not only created this cool full-page diagram that ran before the convention began last weekend…

…but also he posted in his Facebook gallery a few photos he took Wednesday on the convention floor:

See more of Jeff’s graphic work in his NewsPageDesigner gallery.

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Charles Blow has started a blog that will accompany the ‘By the Numbers’ column he writes for The New York Times.

Charles Blow of the New York Times
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The blog kicked off July 31. The column — called “a visual OpEd column” — runs every other Saturday.

Charles worked at the Detroit News before joining the Times in 1994 as a graphics editor. He was promoted to graphics director and then to design director for news. He left in 2006 to become art director of National Geographic magazine. He rejoined the Times earlier this year.

George Rorick — an infographics legend himself — interviewed Charles for the Poynter Institute’s web site. Poynter posted the Q&A Wednesday evening.

Interesting sound bytes from Charles:

* There is a lot of freedom that being able to be subjective allows. I thought that would be fantastic to see how far we could go using data and charts to kind of support editorial decisions and opinion.

* I find it a fascinating kind of exercise because there’s a certain part of data that is completely objective — the numbers are what they are, if they’re true or false. There’s a kind of cut and dried sensibility there. And it’s an interesting balance in trying to mix that and marry it and not dilute or corrupt the data, but at the same time, use it as a support mechanism. I like trying to strike that balance.

* There’s a kind of struggle that happens in the newsroom with visual people — that a lot of people have struggled with, and many people have done a good job to change writers’ and editors’ opinions of the role of visuals in the newsroom, but that is a continuing fight. And, quite frankly, I enjoy not having to have to fight it anymore.

Find Charles’ ‘By the Numbers’ blog here. Find his bio and a directory of his columns here.

Read George’s Q&A with of Charles here.

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Heads up, folks in the mid-Atlantic region: I’ll be in Harrisburg, Pa., Sept. 15-17 for three days of intensive visual journalism training for the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.

Joining me there will be Darren Sanefski, assistant art director of the Syracuse Post-Standard and an adjunct professor at Syracuse University.

WHAT WILL THIS SEMINAR DO FOR ME?

We can teach you fundamentals of news design and graphic storytelling. We can show you good work done at papers across the country and how brilliant work got that way.

We can show you shortcuts. Better yet, we can show you which shortcuts not to take.

We can sharpen the skills you need to sell your ideas and your newspapers.

Best of all, though, we can give you hope. When you return to your newsroom Thursday, you’ll return inspired, refreshed and ready to kick butt.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

Anyone invested in news design or graphics or who wishes to understand more about visual journalism. Big papers, small papers — we’ll cover it all.

WHAT SHOULD WE EXPECT?

We’ll start bright and early each day. We’ll be a little late to dinner each night. But by the end of our three-day cycle, you’ll have a greater appreciation for challenges facing visual journalists today and strategies for dealing with those challenges.

DAY ONE: MONDAY, SEPT. 15

Our editors say they want us to think outside the box. But how, exactly, does one do that? We’ll spend the first morning discussing the nature of creativity and how we can be more creative on the pages of our newspapers.

We’ll also discuss at how the brain accesses information and show how a smart designer can use psychology to move a reader around a page and through our newspaper. You’ll never look at an empty page template the same way again.

Darren Sanefski teaches Gestalt theory of
news design in Waterbury, Conn., in May.
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It’s all too easy to get wrapped up in design, though, and forget about content. We’ll spend time the first afternoon looking at brilliant approaches to complex stories and how to brainstorm using word association and concept mapping.

That evening, we’ll hold an informal “campfire” session so we can sit around and do some networking. We may not have a real fire, but we can promise hot chocolate and s’mores.

DAY TWO: TUESDAY, SEPT. 16

We’ll cover a number of nuts-and-bolts issues: Design grids and why they’re important. How to use color more effectively in our newspapers. What you can do in your everyday design that will aid your paper’s branding efforts. The importance of thinking big.

After all, it’s not about the size of your paper. It’s about the size of your ideas.

DAY THREE: WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 17

We’ll discuss principles of typography and why it’s important, trends in Web design, Flash, multimedia and animated storytelling and tips that big papers use in order to stay productive as they pursue brilliant visual work.

IN ADDITION…

In this business, it’s important to think fast. With that in mind, we’ll anchor each afternoon with a hands-on session aimed at sharpening your thinking and conceptualization skills. We’ll also hold a number of critique sessions, not only picking apart your samples but also explaining why they may or may not work and what you can do to make your pages more effective.

BUT WAIT! THAT’S NOT ALL!

We’re programming in a number of brief, break-out sessions on a number of specific topics. We’ll allow the group to choose which of these optional sessions we present.

Some of the topics on our preliminary wild-card list:

* Top 10 Adobe Illustrator tips
* Top 10 Adobe InDesign tips
* Top 10 Adobe Photoshop tips
* Visual ethics in the 21st century
* My all-time worst job interview experiences
* Sporting News Today: An experiment in PDF
* Teaching news design in Manila: A travelogue
* 3D or not 3D: Which rendering technique is the best?
* Charles Apple’s infamous battleship graphic and how it came to be

WHAT EQUIPMENT SHOULD I BRING?

We’ll have hands-on exercises, but this isn’t a software seminar. This is about the journalism — it’s about thinking, it’s about ideas, it’s about telling stories. Feel free to bring your laptop, but you won’t necessarily need it. Bring your brain, a notepad and be prepared to work hard.

Do bring some samples of your work, though, in PDF or JPEG format. We’re planning to spend some time each day with a group critique.

HOW MUCH WILL ALL THIS COST?

Very little. PNA is charging only $249 for PNA members and $279 for employees of non-member papers. If you want to attend only one day, it’s $99 per day or $149 per day for non-members.

WHERE WILL ALL THIS HAPPEN?

At the headquarters of the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, across the street from the Susquehanna River just north of downtown Harrisburg.

The address is 3899 North Front Street. That’s just off I-81; the red dot on this Google map:

View Larger Map

Find detailed driving directions here.

IS THERE A DECENT (CHEAP) HOTEL NEARBY?

Every time I travel to Harrisburg, I stay at the Days Inn at 3919 Front Street, less than a mile away. They’re the purple dot on the map above. Find their web site here.

It’s a very nice place, there’s a Wendy’s next door — Helloooo, Frosty! — and the folks there greet me by name. I even stayed there with my wife and daughter when we passed though on vacation a couple years ago.

WHO ARE THE INSTRUCTORS, AGAIN?

DARREN SANEFSKI has a varied editorial and advertising design background.

He received his visual communication degree from Syracuse University and went to work as a staff artist at The Syracuse Post-Standard. Fast forward more than 20 years and Darren, still at The Post-Standard, is now the Assistant Art Director/sports designer. Darren also works as an Adjunct Instructor at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and teaches graduate and undergraduate students design theory and practice.

In his free time Darren runs a freelance graphic arts business, DMS Design Studio, where he designs for local and national companies on a variety of visual projects. His current and past clients include Boeing, Pacificare, Syracuse University, LeMoyne College, and the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce.

Darren has won numerous national and international awards for his information graphics and designs. He regularly conducts seminars on various aspects of information design, most recently presenting at a Society for News Design quick course in Waterbury, Conn., in May. He is scheduled to speak at a student session at the SND annual workshop in Las Vegas. Darren is a regular facilitator at the SND Annual Best of Newspaper Design Creative Competition.

Find his online portfolio here.

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CHARLES APPLE is art director of Sporting News Today, a daily sports e-newspaper based in Charlotte, N.C.

He spent nearly ten years as graphics director at The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk and graphics editor of The Des Moines Register. Previously, Apple was an artist and page designer for the Chicago Tribune, The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer and for small papers in South Carolina and Georgia.

Apple has won numerous awards from the Society for News Design for page design, graphics and graphics reporting. He redesigned The Athens (Ga.) Daily News in 1987, The (Rock Hill, S.C.) Herald in 1990 and two Gannett weeklies in 2002.

This will be Apple’s fourth session for the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association. He has also taught for the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association, the Alliance of Area Business Publications, the American Press Institute and SND. He was a presenter at SND annual workshops in 2000 (Minneapolis) and 2006 (Orlando). He taught a three-day session in Manila in 2007. Apple is a moderator and blogger for VisualEditors.com.

Apple, 46, is in the process of relocating with his wife and 15-year-old daughter from Virginia Beach to Rock Hill, S.C. In his spare time, he reads 20th century U.S. History, collects Star Trek action figures and writes about himself in the third person.

Find his online portfolio here.

OK, OK, I WANT TO GO. HOW DO I SIGN UP?

Call the PNA’s Bev Hendry at (717) 703-3003 or e-mail her at beverlyh@pa-news.org.

Find more information at the PNA web site.

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Oh, man, does this one make me ill.

I hired Jeff Bash in the summer of 1999 while he was still a student at Grand View College to work for me in the graphics department of The Des Moines Register. He had done a fabulous job that summer as my intern. I had two positions to fill and was having no luck recruiting candidates; Jeff wanted part-time and weekend work.

Me, Jeff Bash and illustrator and page
designer Mark Marturello in 2003.
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So we extended his internship into a part-time gig. By that November, I knew: I wanted him full-time. So I made a deal with him: I’ll hire you now; work whatever hours you can. But you have to graduate on time.

And he did. Not only did he become my first full-time hire in Des Moines, but also he directed my attention to his college buddy Katie VanDalsem, designer and researcher. Hiring Jeff and Katie were two of the best moves I ever made as a newspaper manager. They both kicked ass. They both made me look smart as hell.

A couple of years in, I was taking a giant Ed Miller-taught management class via the Poynter Institute and, in need of a challenging project, I dreamt up a classic: I’ll train this kid to be my successor. Folks in Des Moines thought I was nuts: Are you sure? He’s so young. He’s so quiet.

Oh, yeah. I was sure.

I spent a lot of time working with him, one-on-one. I sent him off to the local community college to take a class in business writing: Grammar was not his strong point, and in a newsroom full of world-class writers, that could be a liability.

And when I finally left Des Moines for the Virginian-Pilot in 2003, I made only one recommendation: Hire Jeff to replace me.

They did. And they weren’t sorry. Hell, I think it’s a hoot that Jeff was actually graphics editor of the Register longer than I was.

So now Gannett, wishing to cut loose 600 of the hardworking journalists who put content on its pages, accepts buyouts from two incredibly talented reporters like Jerry Perkins and Ken Fuson — hell, Ken is one of the best writers working in journalism today! How can any paper let Ken Fuson leave?

But that’s not enough blood from the Des Moines turnip. So the Register laid off five people today. Four of them, I remember from my time there.

But only one of them was Jeff Bash.

Sigh.

Jeff is 31 years old. He has four years of experience as a news artist and five years of experience as a graphics editor/art director.

A few samples of Jeff’s work:

Find more in his NewsPageDesigner gallery.

This comes on the heels of a big, big news year in Iowa. Jeff’s staff has been doing superb work in print and online, covering floods and tornadoes and 15-year-old Olympians.

One of his Des Moines co-workers — who might not want to be quoted by name — writes:

He was so darned good, I was totally shocked.

He was the one who did the popular pumpkin carving templates (huge response) and the map/diagram/graphic of the DM levee system failure, if I remember correctly.

I can’t imagine what they are thinking …

I can’t either. I can’t either.

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Dennis Bolt, former graphics editor of the (Santa Rosa, Calif.) Press Democrat, is a father. Again.

Julian Ray Bolt — 7 pounds 10 ounces — is the third son born to Dennis and his wife, JoVonne.

Dennis writes:

He was born Sunday night, July 20 at 7:09 p.m. He caught us by surprise by more than three weeks. His due date was Aug. 16.

Devon, who turned seven on July 18, was also about a month early, so we had our thoughts on an early birth, but not quite this early.

JoVonne was amazingly cool and composed. She made it look easy!

Best wishes to Dennis and his family. I hope it’s not too nuts for the Bolts these days!

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My good friend Rob Schneider, presentation director of the Dallas Morning News, is not a happy man.

He announced last night the DMN was losing a double-header. A married couple — Sergio Pecanha and Danielle Levkovits, the paper’s graphics editor and a key designer, respectively — are moving to New York.

Rob wrote me:

Sergio and I started at about the exact same time. I did my best work with Sergio, whether it be News Projects, Olympics, Briefing or our latest design tweaks. He’s a great worker and an even better friend. It’s incalculable the loss. He’ll kick ass at the NYT. And his wife Dani is the most talented designer I’ve had the pleasure of working with. She did things with color, type and images that broke a lot of barriers for us. I’ll miss them both dearly.

Big props to Chris Morris for hiring Sergio in 2003 and huge props to Jeff Goertzen for recommending Sergio to Chris in the first place.

It’s a really sad day for us, but a wonderful day for our good friends.

Rob’s official notice is lengthy. But wow, it’s one of the more heartfelt things I’ve read recently. So here it is, in total:

It’s my horrible fortune to announce today that we are losing two great employees to the city of New York: Sergio Pecanha and Danielle Levkovits.

Sergio is leaving us for a wonderful job as a Graphics Editor at the New York Times, both for the print and web versions. We’re losing his wife Dani to the city as well, and soon some lucky company will get to use her versatile talent.

I think it’s an understatement to say that this is an extraordinary loss for our department, both personally and professionally, but it’s also a great opportunity for our good friends, and we’re really happy for them.

And since I need to tell you why we love them and why they will be missed, do yourself a favor and pack lunch before you read this.

SERGIO

Sergio came to us from (as he would say) “the jungle of Brazil” in 2003 and immediately started to make an impact for us.

One of the first graphics he did for us was an explanatory graphic on how to throw five types of baseball pitches. Considering the hurdle of actually trying to explain to him the game of baseball, he did a wonderful job. Later in the year, that graphic won a Gold Medal at the top graphics competition in the world (Malofiej).

During his five year tenure, international graphics awards were something this paper started becoming quite accustomed to.

The Olympics were another area of passion for Sergio and through two Olympic games, Sergio was able to bring a level of sophistication and explanatory journalism to our coverage that was unmatched in the world. He was part of the wonderful graphic “The Patterson” (which explained gymnast Carly Patterson’s double Arabian balance beam dismount) that basically won every design award out there.

The truth of the matter is Sergio achieved world-class results and any number of things he did whether it be a breaking graphic, a spot illustration or an explanatory projects graphic. Much to our benefit, he was able to get his hands on every section of this paper.

In September of 2006, Sergio was promoted to Graphics Director and was able to not only do great work, but also make our graphics better through the editing process as well.

See more of Sergio’s work at his personal web site.
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But maybe his lasting legacy for the DMN was his work with Will Pry in designing our newest product, Briefing, from scratch. His exceptional work on this product made its incarnation all the easier.

But all of this talk about his professional life can’t begin to explain how much we’ll miss Sergio personally. His energy, passion and wit made working here a lot more fun the past five years.

DANI

It would be tough to follow the glowing note I just wrote about Sergio, but luckily I have many more wonderful things to say about his wife, Dani (with some help from her boss Marilyn Bishkin).

Dani joined the staff in October 2006 after two years at Al Dia, where she won several SND awards for her work. She has been a fantastic addition to our staff, generating page after page of dynamic designs often with illustrations of her own for GuideLive, Guide and most recently Taste.

Her bold use of color, creative typography and conceptual solutions are the hallmarks of her vibrant designs. And her passion for design made all of the other designers on staff better as well.

With only three months of designs to submit, Dani won First Place in the 2006 Texas APME Feature Design contest.

In 2007, she quickly put together a massive redesign for our neighborsgo section to go with the website’s redesign. Her phenomenal work on this project led to her being one of the first at the paper to attain “Star” status.

Probably the best thing about Dani was her refusal to settle for mediocrity..

Whenever she was presented with the excuse, “well, that’s always the way we’ve done it here before” she set that thinking aside and figured out a way to make the page or the process better. Our department is much better off for that type of thinking.

Her strong work ethic, can-do spirit and great attitude have infused the department with energy. And her sense of humor infused the department with laughter. She is always quick to help out and eager to try new things.

Find more of Danielle’s work in her NewsPageDesigner gallery.
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Indeed, Dani plans to leave newspaper work behind and expand her design skills and experiences with agency work in New York.

We haven’t set their departure dates yet, but they will be sometime in mid to late July.

I think I know how Rob feels. Sergio and Dani joined us for dinner in a Brazilian steakhouse in Dallas last April when I was in town for a speaking engagement. The both of them were a lot of fun.

Best wishes to both Sergio and Dani, plus all their friends in Dallas!

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EDIT:

Plus, on top of everything else, Sergio turns 32 today! Happy birthday, Sergio!

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