Well, apparently I spoke too soon. Right as I agreed to work on the Ebbtide again, but who do I get a call from? The Seattle Times.

Wahoo!

So instead of the Ebbtide, which is an opportunity that I’m seriously going to be missing out on, I’m working temporarily for the region’s biggest daily newspaper. The job is for about two months long, but it’s a foot in the door for sure.

Basically what I’m doing is repackaging some of their stories for contest submissions such as the Pulitzer. For instance, what I’m working on right now is a series called “Miracle Machines” that ran for three issues last November. I have to take all of the text and all of the images and graphics and re-format them to fit into tabloid and letter size packages, which is no small feat considering that it’s all originally broadside size.

It’s pretty cool. I have my own desk, my own Seattletimes.com email address, my own phone, etc. I’m right there in the midst of all of the Features designers, which is a great perspective to see what goes on at a big paper like the Times.

It’s too bad that I can’t do both, but as it is I’m already stretching my time way thin. I already have a regular job, so taking on two other part-time jobs alongside all of my other responsibilities would be the death of me.

There have been two different Design Directors at the Ebbtide since I left that position two years ago. I never thought that I’d do it again, but apparently I’ve been tagged to do just that.

Unfortunately Bill, the DD starting this year, has scheduling issues that prevent him from getting the publication done on deadline. It’s too bad. It’s a great experience for anyone looking to get into editorial design.

But his loss is my gain. I get a second chance to re-design the paper, and this time I’m gonna make the most of it. When I designed it the last time, my prime directive was to make it into a literary and arts magazine in tabloid format. That’s exactly what I designed.

But when it came time for writing, our entire staff wanted a news newspaper; a directive that my design did not fit at all. Instead of re-designing again, like I should have, I tried to shoe-horn everything into my design.

Bad idea.

But now I get a chance to do it right, the way I should have to begin with.

Because I’m not “officially” hired as the DD of the Ebbtide, I can’t implement a wholesale re-design for the last paper of Fall Quarter. What if someone else gets hired *instead* of me? A redesign of one paper would suck, and it does the campus and the readers no good.

So what I’m doing is using this opportunity to bridge the gap. I’m not changing the masthead. I’m sticking, mostly, with the same headlines. The body copy will stay the same. Some other visual aspects will stay the same.

But 90% of what I’m doing now will be carried over to the new design. The standing heads. The formatting. Mostly the visual cues and hierarchy will be changed into my new design.

It’s a good opportunity to get some actual clip sheets this time for my portfolio.

Sorry Bill. But it’s my turn again.