Before last October, my heart was set on being a designer. All of my experience / training / internships had been in design. Then I met Michael Buford while working on my
final story for Intermediate Writing. Michael was working at the Love INC furniture bank as part of a program to hire ex-offenders. After interviewing him for the first time, I knew that I wanted to be a writer in at least some capacity. His story tugged at my heart strings. At one point he told me about all the family members he had lost while in prison and my eyes filled with tears. They did the same as I sat in a courtroom and listened to a judge tear him down in front of his teenage daughters and son as well as several family members and co-workers. He is one of the most genuine persons I have ever had the privilege of meeting and I know he'll make it through this.
This story is also the most extensive work I've ever done with VOX and I walked away with a very positive experience. After my first draft, I sat down with John Fennell and Amanda Woytus and they pushed me to go further. I submitted several drafts over winter break before reaching a final product. I thought the whole editing process was very smooth and it made me feel more at ease going into this semester of working at VOX.
As for the design of the feature, the only thing I was disappointed with was the photos, which had nothing to do with the photographer or even the designer really. I think the timing of the photo shoot just didn't work out so of the five main characters in my story, not one was pictured in the story. I was happy with the cover photo chosen after seeing other drafts that included the above photo on the front. I think it's a good photo to represent the story, but it looked a little bit dark and set more of a somber mood for the story, which isn't really what I was going for. The final draft of the cover (on the right) had a much lighter tone which I think was a big improvement.
(Photos by Brad Racino)
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