Second Semester
Overview
Project: Positive News – Story Redesign (Print Poster and
Web/TV Display).
Goal: To reformat a chosen Positive News story into two layouts: an 11 x 17 in. portrait poster for print and a 1920 x 1080 px landscape (HDV 16:9) layout for web and TV display.
Requirements
Content and typography
- The story’s title is the dominant headline.
- The story text is downloaded and reformatted.
- Body copy is legible from four to five feet away.
Photo preparation
- The original photo is cleaned of JPEG artifacts.
- The photo is up-sampled to at least 1024 x 1024 px using Camera Raw “Super Enhance.”
- Any supporting photos or artwork have Creative Commons (CC) copyrights.
Required logos
- The Positive News logo with QR code is the dominant logo.
- The sponsor logos are included, with QR code where required.
- The GWD logo is included, with my design credit tightly grouped with it (first initial and last name in uppercase, Roboto font).
- All logos stand out from the background.
- Logos follow the guidelines for custom color, protection space, minimum size, proportional scaling, and design integrity.
Illustrator treatments
- The layout is built in Adobe Illustrator.
- The margin is a visible guide on its own layer.
- All logos are vector files, each on an individual layer.
- Small EPS/PNG files are embedded, and large bitmaps are linked and packaged.
- All colors are selected from swatch books.
- Fonts are outlined or packaged with the submission, with no Adobe CC cloud fonts.
Formats and delivery
- Print poster: 11 x 17 in. portrait, with .125″ bleed and .375″ margin, CMYK, 200 ppi, delivered as AI and PDF (X1A) with bleeds and trim marks.
- Web/TV layout: 16 x 9 in. artboard with video safe areas enabled, landscape, exported as a 1920 x 1080 px JPG.
Story
Ocean Treaty ‘A Landmark Victory’ For High Seas
See More
To visit the Positive News CLICK HERE
Working File
Adobe Illustrator 2026
Rationale
For this project, I redesigned a Positive News story as a poster and a screen layout, with the goal of making a long article easy to approach, easy to read, and visually organized.
Typography and hierarchy
I used Impact for my heading 1. The story title is very long, so I needed a typeface that is condensed, heavy, and impactful enough to stay dominant on the page without taking up too much space. Impact makes the title stand out immediately as the first thing the viewer reads. For the body text I chose Acumin Variable Concept, a clean and highly readable typeface that is comfortable for longer paragraphs and can stay legible at a distance. I used Arial Bold Italic for the pull quote so it contrasts with both the title and the body text, signals a highlighted idea, and invites readers into the article. Together, the three typefaces create a clear hierarchy (title, pull quote, body text) with strong contrast between each level.
Layout and grid
I organized the page into two columns, combining text, pictures, and a pull quote from the article. The columns break the long story into shorter, manageable blocks, and the images and pull quote add rhythm and visual breaks between the text so the page doesn’t feel heavy. Keeping everything aligned to the columns gives the layout order and consistency.
Proximity and logo placement
I distributed the Positive News logo, GWD logo, John Abbott logo, and QR code across the edges of the layout. Placing them along the edges lets each one stand out clearly without overlapping the other elements or competing with the story content. It also keeps the central area free for the title, text, and images, so the reading experience is not interrupted.
Color
My palette is made of dark blue and light violet, which harmonize with each other and are linked to ocean variants. Dark blue gives depth, seriousness, and strong contrast with light text, while light violet softens the palette and adds a calm, hopeful feeling that fits the positive tone of the news. The ocean association creates a cohesive, calming atmosphere across the whole piece.
Overall
Together, these choices create a clear, organized, and balanced layout where the title leads, the story is easy to follow, and the required logos and QR codes are visible without distracting from the content.
Final Result
