The students sketched fast and furiously for 20 minutes to create a graphic that illustrated what they’d learned during the student workshop. They were competing for a summer of study at Poynter.
Twenty-six college students entered the competition at the Society for News Design workshop in Orlando and the judges were impressed with their deadline performance and conceptual skills. The pool was narrowed to nine finalists and, in the end, four were chosen.
The winners — Erin Cubert, Tory Hargro, Joey Kirk and Billy Kulpa — excelled in an interview process with Kenny Irby and me. Next summer, they will join 28 other recent college grads in design, photojournalism and writing for what is often called a journalism finishing school.
You’ll find their bios and winning entries below.
ERIN RENEÉ CUBERT / AGE: 25
HOMETOWN: Originally, I am from Pensacola, Fla., but as a former military dependent, I’ve traveled to and lived in various places.
SCHOOL: Ball State University
AREA OF STUDY: Bachelor of Science in journalism graphics
CURRENT JOB: Designer for J-Ideas, SND chapter president, graphics editor for the Ball State Daily News and art director for Expo (campus magazine)
DREAM JOB: (either right away or ten years from now) It is my hope and dream to work for The Arizona Republic or the Arizona Daily Star shortly after graduation and this fellowship. My dream (beyond a dream) job would be to work for and at an overseas publication either in Europe or Asia. Another long-term goal is to open a business, called Danann Studios. It’s something I’ve thought about for the past seven years. This business would focus on freelance illustrations, graphics reporting and fine art.
WHAT I HOPE TO LEARN during a summer at Poynter: I want to experience working with a team in an area that I do not have a comfort level with. I hope to learn multimedia design and to further my understanding of illustration and graphics, but what I look forward to is finding the story. I am excited about the prospect of getting away from a desk and scouting for a story. The notion of investigative reporting, research and writing intrigues me, and I hope to gain a better understanding of this through the fellowship.
WHAT THE CONTEST JUDGES HAD TO SAY about Erin’s entry: We loved the fact that she worked seriously on her sketching. There was an organic feel to the graphic that was inspired by sketchbooks she’d seen in a presentation by Martin Gee of the San Jose Mercury News. Erin is very interested in graphics reporting in addition to page design and illustration. We think she’ll be a triple threat for an industry looking for very versatile visual journalists.
TORY AMON HARGRO / AGE: 26
HOMETOWN: Port Gibson, Miss.
SCHOOL: Alcorn State University
AREAS OF STUDY: Business Management/Mass Communication
DREAM JOB: Full-Time Kingdom Proclaimer/Chairman of the Board, Hargro Publishing Company
CURRENT JOB: Director of Development/Marketing/Announcer, WPRL 91.7 FM
WHAT I HOPE TO LEARN during a summer at Poynter: I hope to learn the difference between images that are simply memorable and images that you can’t forget.
WHAT THE JUDGES HAD TO SAY about Tory’s entry: As Tory prepared to work on the 20-minute exercise, he sat quietly for a long time — then, he broke his pen open, smeared the ink all over his hand and made a handprint on the paper. (This got our attention.) He used the imprint of his five fingers to represent the five elements from the workshop that had the most impact on him. A notable sidebar: After Tory was named as one of nine finalists, he used the thirty minutes he had before his interview with us to create a business card that incorporated his handprint design, his name, and the title: “Poynter Summer Fellowship Finalist.” This guy goes all out.
JOEY KIRK / AGE: 22
HOMETOWN: Wylie, Texas
SCHOOL: Texas Tech University
AREAS OF STUDY: Print Journalism, General Studies and Exercise and Sport Sciences
CURRENT JOB: Editor in Chief of The Daily Toreador
DREAM JOB: (either right away or ten years from now) Right away, I want to become a sports page designer for a major daily newspaper. In about 10 years or so, I would like to be a design editor for a major daily newspaper or an AME of Visuals.
WHAT I HOPE TO LEARN during a summer at Poynter: Being fairly new at design, I wish to expand my skills, not only in designing, but also in the use of multimedia technologies like Flash, Soundslides, etc.
WHAT THE JUDGES HAD TO SAY about Joey’s entry: Joey’s 20-minute graphic grabbed our attention because he listed the five key elements that resonated with him most — but he ranked each idea as #1. His presentation was simple, well-crafted and to the point. He did well in his interview. His portfolio showed strong leadership abilities and conceptual-thinking skills in design, editing and illustration.
BILLY KULPA / AGE: 23
(My birthday is May 22 … I’ll be 24 by the time I start at Poynter)
HOMETOWN: Rockford, Ill.
SCHOOL: Northern Illinois University
AREAS OF STUDY: Journalism major/English minor
CURRENT JOB: Night news editor at the Northern Star … I work directly with the copy and design desks.
DREAM JOB: I would love to shape the visual culture and design of a major magazine. I’ve applied to the ESPN recruitment Web site about six times in the past few years. I think I’m still waiting on their call.
WHAT I HOPE TO LEARN during a summer at Poynter:
I am incredibly grateful for the technical training that Poynter can offer. I feel that although I’m a solid news designer, my skills are incomplete. I hope to increase my skills as a designer and as a leader in the newsroom.
WHAT THE JUDGES HAD TO SAY about Billy’s entry: Billy really understood the gist of our assignment — he nailed the “charticle” aspect of the project by distilling his ideas down to the central categories of “Where I Am” and “Where I Need to Be.” We felt that his entry was most successful, based on our specific instructions. His writing was very witty and concise — consistently so throughout his portfolio.
Other finalists in the competition included (click on their names to see their entries):
- William Couch, University of Michigan
- Ashley Dinges, University of Michigan
- Barbie DeSoto, Brigham Young University
- Kathleen Sullivan, Pennsylvania State University
- Aimee Williams, Ball State University
Visual journalists Martin Gee, Tiffany Pease, Nicole Bogdas, Nicole Dudka and SND President Christine McNeal helped to judge the contest. They were each presenters at the workshop, directed by Stephen Komives from the Orlando Sentinel.
