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| Andy Baltes created a line drawing of the Beatles using their lyrics as typography. |
Bowling Green State University Senior Andy Baltes wants to design for the Web, but for right now he’s going to have to settle for newspapers.
Baltes is in the Visual Communications Technology program at BGSU specializing in interactive multimedia. As part of the program, all students must satisfy two professional co-ops. Baltes decided to gain credit for one of his co-ops by working as a designer for the campus newspaper.
Most of the skills taught in his classes translate well, he said. He learns Adobe, Dreamweaver, Lightroom and Final Cut Pro, but not InDesign, which is what the newspaper’s designers use to lay out pages.
“It’s different mainly because of InDesign,” he said.
But there are other differences as well.
Baltes has to be aware of all the pieces and parts of a front page, and of every other page for which he’s responsible, like photos and headlines. He has to be able to change his design as the page evolves; sometimes stories or photos don’t fit, or there might be other last-minute changes.
“I try to figure out where [the front page centerpiece] is going first,” Baltes said.
And while Baltes said his classes do a good job teaching him how to use the different programs, students in other majors, such as graphic design, are actually taught how to design, but not how to use the programs.
“They learn the design,” he said. “[But] they don’t necessarily know how to quickly throw it together.”
Of all of the front pages Baltes has designed so far, his favorites include a centerpiece about flu shots and the Black Swamp Arts Festival.
For the flu centerpiece, he was able to be part of the creative process beyond designing the page, as he thought of the art head for the story.
“I had the most freedom doing that one,” he said.
For the centerpiece about the Black Swamp Arts Festival, Baltes said he experimented with the shape of the story a bit.
“Everything was slanted a little,” he said, “whereas most stories are box-shaped.”
Other schools in Ohio with VCT programs include Ohio University, Ohio State University and Kent State University.
According to its website, OU students in the Visual Communications program choose one of four specializations: photojournalism, informational graphics and page design, commercial photography or interactive design.
At KSU, students decide from nine different specializations within the Visual Communications field, according to its website, including Visual Communication Design (2D or 3D graphic design or illustration), Photojournalism and Information Design.
OSU students can only major in Visual Communication Design, and classes include Typography, Graphic Design Production, Design Methodology, Human and Environmental Design and Interactivity Design, according to its website.
The Missouri School of Journalism is one of a few schools that offer a master’s of journalism with a specialization in news design, according to its website. Students enrolled in this program and specialization take classes specifically about how to design for newspapers and magazines. Sample courses, according to the website, include Newspaper Editing, Magazine Editing, Magazine Design and Fundamentals of Photojournalism.
