March Madness an opportunity for fresh inspiration 

It’s March, and everyone is stepping up their game — even those of us who have never touched a basketball in our lives. 

It’s hard to work for a college paper and not get drawn into the excitement of March Madness, and I think that’s a beautiful thing. It’s playoff time for college sports, and even though Spartan hockey has broken my heart again this year, the onset of March Madness feels like the return of the sun after a winter of drudgery. I feel like a 5-year-old kid hooting and hollering for the return of my sneakers after months of heavy boots. 

It’s time to shed all the budget, finance, construction, locator maps and bar graphs like so many layers of heavy winter clothing and break free.

March Madness is a time to feature huge photos from travel-worn, adrenaline-filled photographers.

It’s an opportunity to play stories differently and work with exciting, compelling content.

It’s time for beautiful art heads that proudly announce to your reader that today, there is exciting stuff going on.

It happens every year, sure, but this year could be different in so many ways.

It’s time to do all those cliché things: step out of the box, break the mold, try something new, because if the team you’re covering is fighting hard to put on a good show, you sure as hell want to reflect that in your coverage.

They already know what happened in the game. They watched the buzzer beater and screamed with their friends while they were jumping around in victory, or shed their tears into a drink after that tough loss. Give them something more. A reason to pick up your paper. A page that’s so cool they want to hang it on their walls, or pass it on to their friends.

Every day when your reader has a choice between your front page and everyone else’s, make March Madness your own competition. 

I know that our goal is to create compelling pages, daily. But I’ll be the first to admit that it’s really hard to design a story or a page you’re not personally invested in. So I’m springboarding, from the inspiration of the excitement of March Madness, right onto the newsstand.

Whether you like basketball or not, I think everyone needs to find some inspiration to wake up their work every once in a while. 

I like playoff time because much like the teams we’re covering, what I’ve done all semester doesn’t matter anymore. It’s what I do now that counts. Winter’s over, and I feel like a whole new designer.
 

Commentary

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Chrissy

(03/22/10 10:47pm)
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Well I must say I found this article inspiring! I can definately see how a writer would invest themself into their writings. I thought that it was a honest point that you made “know that our goal is to create compelling pages, daily. But I’ll be the first to admit that it’s really hard to design a story or a page you’re not personally invested in.” I respect you for making such a comment. Very down to earth, keep it coming!!! :D

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