For some reason it is not generally accepted that newspapers should be first and foremost sites of aesthetic innovation and visual splendor. I have spent most of my time at The Scarlet & Black trying to correct this ideological error with limited success.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to convince serious journalists that objective truth is ultimately unattainable and that it is more productive to focus on subjective self-expression. With the goal of convincing future editors-in-chief to convert The S&B into a weekly avante-garde art publication, I would like to track my S&B career through three personally significant contributions to the S&B.
My first graphic was made for Charlotte Krone `25’s “Sage and Blunt” advice column. There is nobody better for whom to nervously draw a first graphic. I made a pretty weird graphic involving mountains of sugar and giant ants — which definitely pushed the boundaries of Charlotte’s instructions — but I was met with nothing but excitement from Charlotte. Charlotte acknowledged the care I put into my graphic for her, evident in the experimentation and creativity that constituted it, and this set the trajectory for the rest of my effortful career at the S&B.
Perhaps the best graphic I ever made for The S&B was for Taylor Nunley `26’s community section, on a story written by Taylor about a local book club. The graphic, woefully cropped online, depicts three people at a book club: two human women side-eyeing one wonderful bird woman. Emotionally, I made this graphic because I like bird people and wanted to draw a wonderful bird woman.
Intellectually, I am a strong proponent of experimental, even strange, visuals to create interest in an audience who might otherwise not pay much mind to stories about book clubs or excise taxes. I’ve always appreciated that Taylor — one of the foremost proponents of the newspaper qua newspaper rather than newspaper as immersive art experience — still almost always gave me the freedom to execute my visions. Over my time on The S&B, Taylor went from community editor, to news editor, to co-editor-in-chief. Her passion for the newspaper has always fueled my own.
As visuals editor, I was for some reason entrusted with the work of eight excellent photographers. In a sense, photographs, with their limited capacities to capture imaginary landscapes, serve as a hindrance for my vision of the newspaper as an interactive papier-mâché diorama representing instances of “news” on campus. Still, I was consistently impressed by their dedication and the quality of work they submitted to me. It was a joy to be the steward of their work. I also had the pleasure of watching graphic designers Regann Fishell `27, Vy Nguyen `29, and Sumi Uetake Turner `29 work to effectively exact their creative visions on The S&B.
Though I am certain that if I had three or four more years on The S&B, I could convert it fully into the world’s first newsprint-based modernist large-scale art installation destroyed and rebuilt on a weekly basis, my time on the paper unfortunately ends here. Really, even though the paper may never become the site of visual excess I imagine, working for it has been an extremely positive experience for me both artistically and personally.
I have encountered almost nothing but kindness and community at The S&B, even as I constantly pushed against what The S&B’s graphics were “supposed” to be. I would urge future editors-in-chief on The S&B to hire graphic designers serious about art. I would encourage future art students at Grinnell to apply to work for The S&B. Your art practice will thank you.
