Kent State University • Graphic Design I
Editorial Design and Supporting Information Graphics
Student designer: Julia Gray
Assignment and teaching focus
This assignment connects close reading to editorial design. Students select an article from defined topic areas, identify its principal claims and useful quantitative or comparative information, and develop original graphics to accompany the text.
Sketching precedes refinement so that students can test explanatory approaches before committing to a finished illustration. Typography, image placement, and information graphics must then work together within a coherent publication layout. The learning goal is to make visual decisions accountable to the content being communicated.
Selected student response
Julia’s feature, Seven Affordable Habits To Live a Healthy & Happy Life, pairs warm orange fields and photographs with a separate Healthy Choices infographic spread. Sketches of portion measurement, exercise, and brain icons reappear as refined explanatory elements, making the transition from idea to application visible. Repeated color and line treatments connect the graphics to the editorial pages. This selection is particularly useful for examining how a student develops several visual explanations within one publication rather than treating the infographic as an isolated illustration.
Spread mockup: Typography, photography, and warm color fields connect the facing pages.
Hand-as-measure sketch: A central visual analogy is tested through callouts and supporting icons.
Exercise and stress sketch: Directional cues explore a sequence of relationships.
Brain-icon studies: Repeated drawings investigate simplification and visual consistency.
Feature opener: Image scale, columns, and a quotation establish a reading hierarchy.
Healthy Choices: A hand-based portion guide, exercise illustration, and brain-icon sequence share a coordinated infographic spread.
A Change For The Better: A text-led page uses headline contrast and a photographic sidebar to organize the article.
