A Journalist, Activist and Researcher.
Web
El Estoque knows the value of the Internet. In fact, it has an entire section of writers, designers and photographs devoted to publishing content on elestoque.org, our online news-magazine that has a readership of over 350,000 people each year. As Managing Editor, my role is to aid in the development of monthly packages, utilize multimedia tools and help section editors integrate web-based elements in their stories.
Package and website design
As the Features editor for Multimedia Design last year and a sit-in News editor this year, I led the development of multimedia packages on various mediums, including Atavist, Adobe Spark and SNO Templates, to publish stories that were not only informative but also user-friendly, visually-appealing and accessible on both mobile devices and laptops/desktops.
Atavist: When designing packages on Atavist, I opt for a clean, fresh look. As such, I use the paginate element to devote a single page to each story, make the best image in the package the header image for the cover page and include a table of contents navigation element on the first page. I also utilize different color schemes to match the tone and depth of the stories. For example, "To Build a Home" was a package about hope and strength so I used a lighter color scheme of beige/white, but "The Inner-workings" explored themes of advertisements, technology and social persuasion, leading me to use a dark blue color scheme. Click on each image to be redirected to its respective package.
Adobe Spark: Since Adobe Spark offers a very clean, clear-cut look that goes well with visual-heavy stories, I chose to design the "In Nature" package on this platform. To do so, I created a main cover page, as seen on the left, and separate projects for each article, which I then included by using the links for each button. This format has now been incorporated in many of the Spark packages designed this year. Click on the image to be redirected to the package.
SNO: Recognizing that readers are less likely to click on a link to be directed to a second platform like Atavist/Spark, I used the SNO Grid Template to design this package, fully utilizing the featured images and hover-text to give an accurate overview of the package to readers. This was among the first packages published using SNO and set the precedent for this year, as many packages now use this format. Click on the image to be redirected to the package.
SheSkill's Outreach Work: As the founder and CEO of Global Free Write, a free press organization that utilizes journalistic principles to do good, I improve businesses and nonprofits' online presence by helping them build websites, launch social initiatives and graphics and flyers. One group I collaborate most frequently with is SheSkill'd, a Cameroon-based nonprofit that helps advance women's rights. When Edia Eyele, SheSkill'd's Finance and Resource Mobilization Coordinator, approached me, she shared concerns about her organization having little web presence. Thus, to help SheSkill'd get its message across to a wider audience, I taught Eyele how best to utilize Facebook for outreach, created print media to recruit volunteers and announce workshops and provided a template website for the organization. For my efforts, I was honored as Femprenuer at the Pan-African Institute of Beau and given an invitation to attend the conference.
Here are some fliers I designed for the nonprofit. Click on each grid to view the whole image.
Here is the template website I designed for SheSkill'd. It is still in the works and after further coordination with Eyele, I hope to publish it soon. Click on the image to be redirected to the website.
Multimedia Tools
Timeline: When my journalism advisor messaged me saying that Stanford rapist Brock Turner's judge Aaron Persky had been fired from his position merely two days after news of his hiring broke out to the community, I was in the midst of doing research to report on this event for a long-form story. Recognizing that it was imperative that our community members know about this recent development, however, I took it upon myself to research what had happened over the course of two days and publish it in an easy-to-read timeline. I published the story on the same day his removal was revealed in an email to my advisor.
Social media reporting: To communicate Persky's removal to as many individuals as possible, I also published four short tweets containing important facts about the event.
Interactive Quizzes: Being a fan of quizzes myself, I decided to create my own quiz for a package on Free Speech and test readers' understanding of the First Amendment. In doing so, not only would the audience be actively interacting with El Estoque content but I'll be doing my job by informing my readers of their rights.