When asked about joining The Ticker, I turned down the idea of producing graphics in favor of copy editing. Little did I know when I transitioned into the business editor role, I would also join the graphics team to address the shortage of artists on staff.
Although I was busy with the section to produce art at my leisure, the graphics assignments I received for The Ticker helped me find a way to be visually creative. Here are a couple I’d like to highlight.
For the first image, the version of myself who contributed to this year’s April Fools Day-version of The Ticker — also known as “The Tickler” — produced a graphic for an article about the Mishkin Gallery opening an exhibit on “Saturday Night Live” in light of the show generating humor about Baruch College following news about Rep. George Santos. The version of the graphic in the print-only gag had a different background. I worked on most of this in the office using a rechargeable stylus borrowed from News Editor Maya Demchak-Gottlieb since my Papermate InkJoy stylus disappeared. I ran out of time, battery and physical energy to continue doing the backdrop, so I left it with vague doodles of paintings. This time around, I added things referenced in the article — comedian Conan O’Brien presenting actor Tom Hanks his “Five-Timers Club” jacket, a 500 lb cowbell, and a statue of Lorne Michaels.
The second image is the one I made for the last Martin Shkreli-article produced by the section. I traveled to Washington, D.C., over the summer to take stock photos for the section. Using my stock photo for the Federal Trade Commission saved me time. The main difference between the version in print and the website versus the gram is the more defined outline of Shrekli.
The third image is the one I made for the first Shrekli-related article produced during my run.
The fourth image is the one I made for the last exclusively online installment of the Weissman Center for International Business’ Mitsui Lunch-Time Forum. Guest David Conn was later tapped as a judge for this yeat’s CUNY CLASH.
The fifth image is a graphic I made for a webinar hosted by the Lawrence N. Field Center for Entrepreneurship. In favor of having a horizontally oriented image that is unique to The Ticker, I didn’t use the vertically oriented poster provided by the center. Instead, I illustrated the speaker of the week, Chirag Nijjer, using one of his promotional headshots as reference. The sweater was an interesting part to color.
The sixth image is the second-ever graphic I contributed to The Ticker. It was used for a review of “The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window.” I particularly enjoyed illustrating the background and Kristen Bell’s hair.
The seventh image is a graphic I made for a review of “The Patient.” This was my second attempt at it since I accidentally hit the “do not save” button when I was done with the original piece. Nevertheless, I enjoyed illustrating Steve Carell’s beard both times.
The eighth and ninth images were last-minute graphics I made for the sports section. The section’s editor couldn’t find the appropriate pictures from the public domain to use as featured image, and the graphics team had a shortage of artists, especially of ones who could draw people. After I was done with my print production-related responsibilities for the business section for Issue 3, I took on the outstanding requests.
The tenth image is the graphic I made for a review of this year’s Met Gala. It was requested at the last minute and took three days to produce with naps in between. Olivia Rodriguez’s dress was fun to illustrate. Florence Pugh’s dress was the hardest to work on because of the different tints and shades.
Two more graphics are the “Don’t Worry Darling” review graphic and the 2023 Met Gala fashion review graphic. The latter graphic was requested at the last minute by the incoming arts and culture editor for the final issue of the semester. Production was extended to the following Tuesday due to most of the graphic masthead staff having to attend meetings and events during the last full week of the academic year. As for me, instead of attending the Undergraduate Student Government’s “Bernies” awards dinner, I spent the weekend producing this graphic.
As much joy it brings my fellow staff members to know that one of my last graphics was one with Jared Leto in a cat costume, the last graphic I produced for the newspaper was for an article about internships with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. As of the time I’m writing this post, the graphic is only in the print version of the issue.
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Dearest Reverie 