FNewsMagazine Designer Brief V1.3.pdf

1
F Newsmagazine Designer Brief
Designer Brief
V 1.3, 09.11.23
Bei Lin 2023
Intro
Workflow
Pagination
Page Composition
Special Pages
Design It Yourself
Jargons
02
04
09
15
23
28
30

2
What is a
newsmagazine
anyways?
To state the obvious, a newsmagazine is essentially a
type of periodical publication that combines elements
of both newspapers and magazines.
That means we at F are not restricted by the
boundaries of either. We can be extremely informative
and up-to-date in our articles while being free-form
and artistic in others.
On top of that, we are also able to explore the
boundaries of our design and mediums while keeping
the base form as an intact monthly publication.
This document is a brief introduction to what it means
to be a designer at F. Don’t worry if you get confused
as you go, we have a list of all the terms that you need
to know at the end.
“ ” NEWSMAGAZINE
THE SCHOOL OF THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO ARTS, CULTURE, AND POLITICS
FEB’23 SAIC REMOVES
MASK MANDATE
TIKTOK’S
CORECORE
04 13
08TO LOVE IS
TO HAUNT
TO LOVE IS
TO LOVE IS
TO HAUNT
TO HAUNT
NEWSMAGAZINE
THE SCHOOL OF THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO · ARTS, CULTURE, AND POLITICS
4 FINANCIAL AID 12 IMPACT FESTIVAL 16 ART OF OBSESSION
Entertainment Special
NEWSMAGAZINE
Disability
and SAIC
06
APRIL
2023
Colleen Hoover’s
‘It Ends with Us’
Review
14
Berlin Nightclub
Union
08
NEWSMAGAZINE
OCT
2022
10
Student
Orientation
12
Faculty
Rally
14
Art
NFTs
16
David Hockney
Exhibition
Resources
for post-Roe
Chicago, pg.4
SAIC REMOVES
SAIC REMOVES
MASK MANDATE
MASK MANDATE 08TO LOVE IS
TO LOVE IS
TO HAUNT
TO HAUNT
TO LOVE IS
TO LOVE IS
TO HAUNT
TO HAUNT
FEB’23 SAIC REMOVES
SAIC REMOVES
MASK MANDATE
MASK MANDATE
04
NEWSMAGAZINE
dec
2022
SCHEDULE
CHANGE
PG.8
BFA
EXHIBITION
pg.4
NETFLIX
XMAS
PG.14
NEWSMAGAZINE
APRIL
2023
Berlin Nightclub
Union
08
NEWSMAGAZINE
NEWSMAGAZINE
NEWSMAGAZINE
APRIL
2023
Berlin Nightclub
Union
08
NEWSMAGAZINE
NEWSMAGAZINE
MAY 2023
MEAL PLAN
CHANGES
08
POST-GRAD
LIFE
04
DUNGEONS
AND DRAGONS
12

3
What is F?
F Newsmagazine is a journal of arts, culture,
and politics edited and designed by students
at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
We publish student-written articles about art,
entertainment, literature, current news, SAIC
events, and much more. We also feature a
dedicated comics section.
Each issue is custom designed with a unique
theme in mind, featuring a different front
cover, back cover, table of contents page,
and design style tailored to the theme of each
issue.
We publish articles of almost every genre in a
few different media including but not limited
to:
Printed Issue: We publish a printed issue
roughly once a month, except for school
breaks.
Web Articles: On top of that, we also
publish articles on our website.
Videos: We also produce videos that cover
current events.
Special Issues: Occationally, we make
special issues featuring a unique feel and
look. These usually come in the form of a
custom-made webpage.
We also have Instagram, Facebook, and
Twitter, as well as a Vimeo and youtube
channel.
For the purpose of this brief, we will mainly
focus on the parts where our designers
interact the most: the printed issue and the
web articles.
NEWSMAGAZINE
dec
2022
SCHEDULE
CHANGE
PG.8
BFA
EXHIBITION
pg.4
NETFLIX
XMAS
PG.14
Printed Issue
Web Articles
Special Issues
Videos
Our Products →

4
Workflow
Intro
Workflow
Pagination
Page Composition
Special Pages
Design It Yourself
Jargons
02
04
09
15
23
28
30

5
Teams
At F we divide our staff into teams, each
focusing on a separate task.
Writers: Articles don’t just appear out of
nowhere. Our writers are recruited from all
branches of society. They produce articles
of various quality that often need to be
further edited. They are usually not directly
hired by F, but rather commissioned.
Editing Team: Our editors are talented
individuals that can turn the unpolished
text from writers into presentable articles.
They are extremely important in spotting
mistakes and making sure the article
makes sense. They are also responsible
of communicating with the writers and
making sure they produce articles on time.
Design Team: Our designers are
responsible of creating illustrations for
each of our articles, as well as designing
the layout for our printed issues. We have
a Art Director (AD), and an Associate Art
Director (AAD) as people who decide the
art direction.
Distribution Team: The distribution team
is responsible for distributing our printed
articles around the campus, as well as
posting promotional posters.
Staff Advisors: Our staff advisors are
extremely important in pointing us in the
right direction. They usually are in-touch
with the industry and current trends. They
make sure we are on the right track at all
times.
In short, we need people to write the articles,
people to edit it, people to make it look pretty,
people to guide us on our journey, and people
to distribute it so others can see them.
Created by Hai Studio
from the Noun Project
Created by Irvan Rhomadhani
3
3
3
1 2
4
Created by DinosoftLabs
Created by Iconstock
Created by Asheeqa
1. Writer produces
the articles
2. Editors make
sure it’s readable
3. Designer make
it look good
4. Distributor send
them out for people
to read
Staff Advisor keep
things in check
Teams & their Roles →

6
Workflow
Now that you know how the teams work, it’s
time to show how they interact.
Timeline
Usually, the editors will host a monthly
meeting called the “Open Meeting”. In
this meeting, writers from everywhere is
welcomed the come. The editors talk with our
writers on what they wish them to write.
The writers will then return home and start
writing their articles. Meanwhile the design
team will start their ideation on what they
want the issue to look like.
After the editors get confirmation from the
writers of which articles they will write, we will
produce a document called the “Pagination
Sheet”. This document will be the place where
we enter the name of all of our articles, as well
as many important information such as the
deck, author, etc. This document is how we
keep track of what goes into each issue.
After the pagination sheet is finished, the
designers will then get assigned their articles
and start to design their pages.
At the press weekend (the last week of the
production cycle), all of the designers and
editors gather in the office, and we work
together from around 10am to 3pm to make
sure the issue comes out as needed.
At the end of the press weekend, the issue
should be mostly finished. After some final
editing, we will then send the articles to print.
The printed articles will then be distributed by
the distribution team.
For designers, we will meet 1 time each week,
with an additional meeting on the Monday of
the 4th week.
Editing Team Monthly Production Cycle →
Week 1 →
Meeting 1
Open Meeting
Week 2 →
Gather Articles
Week 3 (Pagination Week) →
Pagination Sheet
Edit articles
Week 4 (Press Week) →
Press Weekend
Combo Meeting
Crit Weekend
1 2 3 4
Design Team Monthly Production Cycle →
Week 2 →
Meeting 2 (Online)
Theme ideation
Design theme voting
Color theme voting
Showcase cover ideas
Decide cover creator
Week 3 (Pagination Week) →
Meeting 3 (Online)
Articles assigned
Sketches of articles layout
Refine sketches
Cover draft
Week 4 (Press Week) →
Press Weekend
Combo Meeting
1 x 1 Check-ins
Crit Weekend
Crit 1/2/3
Edits
Finish Edits
Sent to distribution
Week 1 →
Meeting 1
Critique previous issue
Think about cover ideas
1 2 3 4

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Trello and Web First Workflow
F articles should appear on the web first, and
then on the print issue.
All articles on the web and print will need an
illustration, in order to do so, we use our Trello
board to assign designers article illustrations
throughout the month.
On the Trello board, the designers will know
the content, style, and deadline of each
illustration. They will almost always be 1920 by
1080. The designers should start working on
their assigned illustration when they receive
the order. Check the Trello-and-illustration-
requests Slack channel for more info.
After the designer/illustrator finished their
illustration, we will transform them into the
printed version, and create layouts that fit the
illustration.
Created by Irvan Rhomadhani
3
1 2
2
2
4
1. Articles illustrations
assigned on Trello to
designers
2. Designer produce
the illustration for
Web based on the
instructions on Trello
3. Illustration converted to
print version to fit the theme
and layout of the printed page
4. Finish things up
during crit weekends
Trello Workflow →
1
Created by Enjang Solehudin
3

8
Workflow
Press Weeks
For our print issues, we usually do most of our
work during what we call “Press Weekend”.
But we also need to prepare and start working
on our projects beforehand.
The graph on the next page shows a rough
timeline of what the designers would do for
preparation of press weekend.
During press weekend, we usually do 3 rounds
of critiques to ensure the quality of our work
is secured. During which we will pin our work
onto our critique wall in our office, and stare
at it until we find things we can fix.
After each round of critique, the designers go
back to designing/editing the page, while the
editors go back to edit the articles.
At the end of the 3rd round of critique, the
whole page should only require minimal edits.
Workload
The workload of each designer would be
roughly the same
Printed Spreads: Each designer is expected
to produce 2-3 spread of design per issue.
The designers will rotate and design the
front/back covers as well as the table of
contents.
Web Article: The designers are also
responsible for creating the illustrations
for our web articles. These will often by
1920x1080, with exceptions of photos or
specific designs.
Meetings: Each month the designers need
to attend two in person meetings as well
as two online meetings. On top of that,
keeping in touch with the team on slack is
strongly recommended.

9
Monday
Editors decide on
pagination sheet and
articles.
Art director and
associate AD send out
template.
Monday
In person combo
meeting.
Show sketches and
ideas to editors, tell
them about your article’s
needs.
First Critique: 1 pm Saturday
Articles design 70% finished.
Cover/back cover/TOC 50% finished.
Start printing at 12:40 pm for the critique wall.
Tuesday
Designers take a look at
articles and tell AD your
preference.
Decide on cover/back
cover/TOC participation.
Tuesday
Slack your plan to the
AD.
1. Visual Concept
2. Your status
3. Concerns
Wednesday
80% of articles get
assigned.
Start doing research and
rough sketches for the
assigned articles.
Flow texts into template
file.
Wednesday
One on one meeting/
slack messages with AD/
Associate AD, present
sketches, color, page
composition.
Second Critique: 3-5 pm Saturday
Depending on people’s progress
Articles design 90% finished.
Cover/back cover/TOC 80% finished.
Minor changes for the following day.
Start printing 20 minutes before the critique.
Thursday
Create cover sketches
and ideas
Thursday
Refine illustration
based on feedback.
Add colors, finalize
placement.
Friday
Present first sketch.
Decide cover/
back cover/TOC
responsibilities.
Photo essay photo
preparation.
Friday
50% Completion on
illustration/design. Close
to final form.
Headline style should
be set, and quotes and
other type treatment
should be determined.
Third Critique: 1 pm Sunday
Designs 99% finished.
Minor editing changes.
After Crit Week
Turn designs into web illustrations.
Weekend
Refine sketches.
Create different
variations of sketches.
Check article length and
editing requirements.
Pagination Week(1 week before press weekend)
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Friday
Thursday
Editors decide on
pagination sheet
and articles
Art director
and associate AD
send out
template
Take a look
at articles
and tell art director
your preference
80% articles
got assigned.
Art director will
left 2-3 articles
unassigned
until we decide
on the people who
are doing cover, back cover
and TOC
Start doing research,
rough sketches for your articles
Present your first sketch
(Pencil sketches, no color)
and your inspirations
Editors have
photo essays’
photos ready
for designers
Rest articles
will be assigned
by end of today
Press Week
Thursday
In-person
Combo meeting
with your articles’
editors
Show your
inital sketches
and ideas,
tell editors
your articles’
needs
Inital plan due 11:59 pm:
1. visual concept
2. your status
3. concerns
Email to art director
One on one
meeting
with art director
and associate art director.
Present:
sketches, color palette,
page placement
/composition
Refine illo based on feedback
add colors, finalize placement
50% completion on illustration/design,
closer to final form, headline colors/style
should be set, and quotes and other
display type should also be determined.
Flow your texts in the template file
Weekend
Refine
your sketches
and see if your
articles need
more/less words
PRESS
WEEKEND
First Critique: 1 pm
Articles: 70% finished
Cover, back cover and toc:
50% finished
Start printing at 12:40 pm
Second Critique: 4 or 5 pm
80% finished
Only minor changes should
happen for the following day
Start printing 20 mins earlier
Third Critique(Sunday at 1pm)
99% finish. Minor editing changes
Cover sketches and ideas Decide who is doing cover,
back cover and Toc page
Thursday
To-Dos For cover/back cover and TOC
Also decide if you want
to participate in cover
/back cover/toc page design
n Week(1 week before press weekend)
Tuesday Wednesday Friday
Thursday
e on
heet
Art director
and associate AD
send out
template
Take a look
at articles
your preference
80% articles
got assigned.
Art director will
left 2-3 articles
unassigned
until we decide
on the people who
and TOC
Editors have
photo essays’
photos ready
for designers
Rest articles
will be assigned
by end of today
k
Tuesday Wednesday Friday
Thursday
ing
cles’
Show your
inital sketches
and ideas,
tell editors
your articles’
needs
1. visual concept
2. your status
3. concerns
One on one
meeting
with art director
Present:
page placement
/composition
Weekend
Refine
your sketches
and see if your
articles need
more/less words
que: 1 pm
50% finished
80% finished
Third Critique(Sunday at 1pm)
99% finish. Minor editing changes
Thursday
To-Dos For cover/back cover and TOC
Thursday
Editors decide on
pagination sheet
and articles
Art director
and associate AD
send out
template
Take a look
at articles
your preference
80% articles
got assigned.
Art director will
left 2-3 articles
unassigned
until we decide
on the people who
and TOC
Editors have
photo essays’
photos ready
for designers
Rest articles
will be assigned
by end of today
Press Week
Thursday
In-person
Combo meeting
with your articles’
editors
Show your
inital sketches
and ideas,
tell editors
your articles’
needs
1. visual concept
2. your status
3. concerns
One on one
meeting
with art director
Present:
page placement
/composition
PRESS
WEEKEND
First Critique: 1 pm
50% finished
80% finished
Third Critique(Sund
99% finish. Minor editin
Thursday
Week
3
(Pagination
Week)
→
Week
4
(Press
Week)
→

10
Pagination
Intro
Workflow
Pagination
Page Composition
Special Pages
Design It Yourself
Jargons
02
04
09
15
23
28
30

11
Issue Structure
Our printed issue is composed of many
different parts. We have our front cover,
followed by our ads/table of content page
(TOC by short), which is followed by our
articles, our comics section, and finally our
back cover.
The articles in the issue is further broken down
to different sections including:
SAIC: This section covers reports of SAIC
news or events, as well as updates on SAIC
alumni.
News: This section covers current events.
Art: This section covers art related events,
as well as featuring artists or art pieces.
Entertainment: This section covers things
that are fun and exciting, or events in the
entertainment industry.
Lit: This section is lit. JK, short for literature,
this section covers story of famous writers
or events in the literature world.
And let’s not forget:
Comics: We also showcase student made
comics! All are welcome.
Each issue differs in length. With the most
common being between 24 to 32 pages.
1
4
7
2
5
8
3
6
2
1. Front Cover + TCO + Ads 2. SAIC 3. News
4. Arts 5. Entertainment 6. Literature
7. Comics 8. Ads + Back Cover
Issure Structure →

12
Overall Theme & Art Direction
At F, we try our best to make each of our
issues unique. In order to do so, each issue
will have a different overall theme and design
theme.
Theme: The overall theme determines
the overall tone of each issue. It is often
determined by an overarching theme or
feeling that is present in multiple articles
in the same issue or by current events and
important topics.
Art Direction: The art direction, on the
other hand, will affect elements such
as the color palette, graphic style, type
choices, and so on. It is important that the
art direction theme match well with the
overall theme without being too over the
top. The design theme is often determined
by unique styles or examples that we find,
or ones that match well with the overall
theme.
The themes and art direction will be
developed before the production cycle,
during our designer and editor meetings.
It is important that we develop and
consistently follow these themes carefully, as
they are our guidelines and our way to keep
issues cohesive.
What’s happening in May?
Rising Temperature
Getting Warm
What does that mean?
More vegetation
Going out with less clothes
More people on the streets
Flowers blooming
Birds chirping
Happier mood
Sunlight
Visitors
The implementation
Vibrant, complex designs with floral elements.
What can be our overall theme?
Growth
Nature
Activity
Warmth
What can be our art direction?
Flourishes
Vegetation
Vibrant Colors
Detailed Designs
Floral Elements
May Theme & Art Direction Workflow →
1 2
3 4 5
NEWSMAGAZINE
MAY 2023
MEAL PLAN
CHANGES
08
POST-GRAD
LIFE
04
DUNGEONS
AND DRAGONS
12

13
Templates
All designers will be given an InDesign
file template and a template guide at the
beginning of the production cycle. These
templates will act as a guideline for the
designers for easier production.
Indd Template: This InDesign file will
include a sample single-page spread as
well as a sample double-page spread.
Designers can use this template as a
base for their designs, but they are not
restricted by it by any means.
Template Guide: Coming with the template
is a template guide. The template guide
includes guidelines for elements such as
the title font, illustration style, and color
palette, as well as other specific design
rules or type treatments.
The art director and the associate art director
will produce the template before each
production cycle. The templates will follow
the overall design art direction.
InDesign Template Example →
Theme color palette
Specific type treatment
Pull quote treatment

14
Templates
All designers will be given an InDesign
file template and a template guide at the
beginning of the production cycle. These
templates will act as a guideline for the
designers for easier production.
Indd Template: This InDesign file will
include a sample single-page spread as
well as a sample double-page spread.
Designers can use this template as a
base for their designs, but they are not
restricted by it by any means.
Template Guide: Coming with the template
is a template guide. The template guide
includes guidelines for elements such as
the title font, illustration style, and color
palette, as well as other specific design
rules or type treatments.
will produce the template before each
production cycle. The templates will follow
the overall design art direction.
Template Guide Example →

15
Color Theme
Each issue will have a different color theme.
The colors are often determined by the overall
theme of each issue. For example, if the
theme of the issue is “spring”, it is very likely
that the colors are going to be spring-related
colors such as soft green, peach, pink, etc.
Each designer can pitch their idea of what
the color theme of the issue should be in the
designer meetings before the production
cycle begins.
will have the final say on the color theme of
each issue, and it will be listed in the designer
template at the start of each production
cycle.
Header: For the headers, the color will
usually be black. The header style of each
issue will be different. Sometimes we
highlight specific words with a spot color if
needed.
Body Text: For all of our body text,
however, we will be using black. (Unless
specific cases or if the design requires).
Other Texts: For all other parts of the page,
we will be using black as well. The only
exception is the word describing the type
of article in the deck.
Illustration: The illustrations and designs
should also follow the color theme. While
it is totally okay to break out of the color
theme for specific purposes, it is highly
recommended to keep things consistent
throughout the issue.
Article type in Deck colored
Illustration in color theme
Spot color in headlines
Color theme of the issue:
Sample Page →
Highlighting elements
in body text
FNEWSMAGAZINE.COM
4 SAIC FEBRUARY
BFA senior Marcus Emdanat said the School of the
Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) hasnʼt been able to
accommodate most of his needs as a student with a
disability. But thereʼs one thing he appreciated about
the school — SAIC had kept better masking protocols
than other universities.
“To my knowledge, I havenʼt had the virus. And I
think that is largely because of the fact that SAIC has
kept such good policy,” Emdanat said. “Everyone is
protecting each other.”
But on Jan. 3, when he discovered SAIC would
remove the mask mandate, he felt sad and angry,
as it puts him at more risk of getting infected
with COVID-19.
“I had thought,” Emdanat told F, “Given how
long this schoolʼs mask policies held out, that
SAIC would be different; clearly I was wrong.
Theyʼre just as indifferent to vulnerable
peopleʼs pain and suffering as the rest of
the world.”
Emdanatʼs disappointment about the
removal of mask mandates is shared by
some students, staff, and faculty at SAIC,
who are highly disappointed with the
recent changes in COVID-19 protocols.
Unlike some other U.S. universities, SAIC
had taken a firm stance on masking:
students, professors, and staff were all
required to wear masks on campus. At
first everywhere on campus, then, only in
instructional spaces.
Then during the winter break, SAIC
administration announced: “For the winter
term, we will continue to require masks
in our instructional spaces. However, at
the start of the spring term — on January
26 — individuals may continue to wear masks,
though they will no longer be required
in any on-campus space except at the
Wellness Center.”
This critical decision comes when the new
contagious subvariant of COVID-19 XBB.1.5,
is highly spreading all over America and
accounts for more than 43 percent of overall
COVID cases in the country, according to
ILLUSTRATION BY SHU YIN (KITTY) LAI (MFAVCD 2023).
She hopes to pick her New Yearʼs resolutions before the
start of the semester.
SAIC ENDS
CLASSROOM MASK
REQUIREMENT
Some students and faculty worry about their safety.
REPORT by Ankit Khadgi
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Meanwhile, many doctors have also warned that
influenza could be worse this year.
“It is not a good decision, and it will adversely
affect immunocompromised students like me. I live
in the dorms, and I no longer feel comfortable with
SAICʼs COVID-19 policy there. Now Iʼm uncomfortable
with the policy in classrooms too,” a BFA sophomore
student stated, who spoke with F on the condition
of anonymity.
SAIC and its evolving COVID protocols
When the COVID-19 pandemic began spreading
worldwide, SAIC, like many other universities, relied
on online methods for teaching. Before resuming
its in-person teaching and learning, the school
administration, in consultation with the Director of
the Institute for Biosecurity at St. Louis University
(Dr. Terri Rebmann) introduced the Make Together: A
Return to Creating on Campus.
Through this plan, the school had set specific
health protocols that everyone was to follow. All
students, faculty, staff, and contract employees had
to be vaccinated with the primary COVID-19 vaccine
series, and masks were required throughout the
campus. Now, none of the SAIC community are
required to cover their faces with masks. Neither
has the school made the bivalent vaccine mandatory,
which the CDC strongly recommends.
“As of the spring semester, masks will be optional
everywhere on campus with the exception of the
Wellness Center. This change was recommended by
Dr. Rebmann in light of the lessening virility of the
dominant COVID variants, good hospital capacity,
and little evidence of campus transmission in spaces
that have been mask-optional this past fall,” Provost
Martin Berger told F.
“To inform our decisions,” Berger added, “Weʼve
continued to consult with Dr. Rebmann and review
the latest science and local and national public health
guidance. We frequently review our protocols, make
adjustments as needed, and communicate those
adjustments — and our reasoning— with students,
faculty, and staff.”

16
Page
Composition
Intro
Workflow
Pagination
Page Composition
Special Pages
Design It Yourself
Jargons
02
04
09
15
23
28
30

17
Page Composition
Overall Rules
There are a few overall rules that each page
should follow.
1. Because of the limit of the printers, all
text and design should stay away from the
borders for at least 0.25 inches, with a
preferred distance of 0.5 inches+. Having
designs that cross over the whole spread is
okay, but keep in mind your design will be
split at the spine of the issue.
2. Although we encourage original designs,
we do not wish for constant changes in the
overall structure of the page throughout
the issue. So for example, it would be
optimal for each designer to have one
unique design for each issue, while keeping
the other designs relatively tame (like the
one on the right).
3. For each article, all of the components
on the right should be featured one way or
another. The layout and the design can be
drastically different, but the information
need to be present. Each article of the
monthly issue is made with several
important components. This includes the
headline, the deck, the header, the footer,
the illustration/design, etc.
For most cases, an article will be presented on
a 1 page or 2 page spread.
We will now go into the details of each
component and go over some rules in order
to keep elements consistent throughout
different issues.
Deck/Byline
Headline
Photo Illustration
Design
Header
Sample Page →
Body Text
Extra Elements
Footer
“The Knight before Christmas”
“Falling for Christmas”
“A Christmas Prince 2: The Royal Wedding”
“A Christmas Prince 3: The Royal Baby”
“A Christmas Prince”
“The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star”
“The Princess Switch”
“The Princess Switch Switched Again”
of a bag in the grocery store, this film won me over,
and I really didn’t expect it. This film takes off with a
meet-cute car crash and never slows down after that
moment. If you watch only one of these films, this is
the one to watch.
Finally, we have the newest movie of the bunch,
“Falling for Christmas.” It’s a fever dream of a film
so far past reality that it is indistinguishable from
satire, but it makes up for it with the world’s worst
raccoon puppet. This film is entirely too earnest while
being entirely detached from reality. You go from
watching Lindsay Lohan in a goofy montage of head-
injury-based sitcom-style nonsense to a sentimental
conversation about the male lead’s dead wife.
Characters will interact with each other like they’ve
known each other for years, then immediately act
completely awkward and stiff with one another. Will
you understand what’s happening? No! Will any of the
characters’ interactions make sense? No! Will there
be pay-off for any idea introduced in this film?
Absolutely Not! Will you have a good time? Absolutely.
Why should you watch these films? You shouldn’t!
But you probably will anyway. Be warned, there is
very little fun to be had and very little sense to be
made, but there are gems and moments that warrant
appreciation. You might enjoy laughing at these
movies, and there’s something to be said about the joy
of hate-watching them. My personal ranking for how
good these films are is as follows:
DESIGN BY NIDHI SHENOY / PHOTO COURTESY OF NETFLIX
character conversations that make this film feel like
it’s 3 hours long when it’s really only an hour and 36
minutes. Other than the very jarring but accidentally
hilarious kidnapping scene, this second film is not
worth watching.
The third and (hopefully) final film in this trilogy
is somehow the best of the three. In the second
film, a third Vanessa Hudgens in a bad blonde wig
is introduced. She’s an off-brand Disney villain
who accomplishes nothing. This character was so
captivating to the Netflix executives that they wrote
a third film that is just another completely non-
Christmas-based caper that has sprinkles of childhood
trauma. Somehow, this is the only watchable film of
the trilogy.
The only positive about the boring waste of this
series is the multiverse it creates. In the first film,
two of the characters watch the first “Christmas
Prince” movie which implies the characters in the
film could watch their own movie and could
potentially know they don’t exist. But then in the
second film the characters from the “Christmas
Prince” attend an event being held by “The Princess
Switch” characters. Finally, in the third film the Loki
ripoff from “The Christmas Prince” shows up and
in the one line he gets, he establishes a previous
history with bad blonde wig Vanessa which adds a
little more lore to the messy multiverse.
“The Knight Before Christmas” might be the best
Netflix Original ever made. The plot is nonsense, and
most of the acting is terrible, but it is nothing but a
gem. The plot is essentially “what if a medieval knight
time traveled to the present day via forest hag magic in
order to complete his knightly quest which is to fall in
love.” It doesn’t make sense, but it doesn’t have to. The
joy of this film is that there is joy. It’s fun. This film
also has a scene where a character in the film watches
Netflix Original Christmas films, which further adds
to the brain-melting question of “do these characters
know they aren’t real?” Somewhere between the
medieval knight trying to catch and roast a skunk, and
the scene where the knight cartoonishly eats rolls out
Netflix has a roster of completely insane Hallmark
movie knockoffs that all fit a very undefinable
category. Most include the wealthy/royals falling in
love with the poor, and some sort of twin switching,
amnesia, time travel, or misidentified person sitcom-
style nonsense that the audience is just supposed
to go along with. It’s also important to note that
none of these films actually need to take place at
Christmas, and they all struggle to adequately feature
Christmas as part of the plot. Their commonality as
films is that they are all trying to be genuine while also
expecting the audience to believe some unbelievable
plot points that undercut any deep emotional impact
we’re meant to relate to. If you could enjoy “Glee,” you
could enjoy this.
The “Christmas Prince” trilogy is the start of
these insane films. The first film has the most
normal plot but is also the most insane in terms of
individual events in the film. There are far too many
nonsense moments to highlight, but the best would
be the extremely staged slow fall off a toboggan.
The second film is the most fun of the trilogy. It’s an
unapologetically generic Christmas film and the
only one that tries to feature Christmas as a central
plot point. The third film is the most insane of the
bunch and is not in any way a Christmas film. It’s a
caper that devolves into the most random plot points
that don’t fully connect and continuously try to top
the previous. This trilogy has everything, fast-talking
news liars, Italians, queer characters, and a Loki
ripoff that randomly joins and leaves the plot.
“The Princess Switch” trilogy is truly the worst
Netflix has to offer. The series’ whole gimmick is
Vanessa Hudgens playing multiple characters, each
with bad wigs and accents, switching places and
pretending to be each other. And yet, it is somehow
still so so so boring. The first film introduces this
concept and is an overly long story of baking
competitions and royal engagements.
The second film introduces nothing but a dating
history that doesn’t matter and way too many
romance-based plot points that exist in one-on-one
A new holiday tradition brought to you by Netflix.
REVIEW by Kit Montgomery
BEST OF THE WORST CHRISTMAS FILMS
Kit Montgomery (BFA 2025) is earning their degree
in side quests. Currently, they’re sewing 100 felt rats.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
FNEWSMAGAZINE.COM
14 ENTERTAINMENT DECEMBER

18
Page Composition
Headline
Every article will have a headline. They are
extremely important and are what grabs
people’s attention.
Color: The headline is usually black, with
occasional spot colors or text treatments
for specific words.
Size: The headline’s size is rather flexible.
As long as it’s bigger than the deck, it’s all
fair game. (The deck is 20-pt source serif.)
Use your best judgment and find the best
size for the composition.
Leading/Kerning: The leading should be
roughly the same as the font size. Slightly
altering the lead is okay if it helps with the
composition. Keep kerning optical and use
the tracking in the template, as it can be
different from issue to issue due to font
changes.
Composition: The headline doesn’t always
have to be organized in straight lines. Play
with ways that best utilize the page, and
sometimes breaking the headline into
multiple parts can create very striking
designs as well.
Spot color in headline →
Bigger than the deck →
Leading and text treatment change on specific words →
Headline layouts →
“The Knight before Christmas”
“Falling for Christmas”
“A Christmas Prince 2: The Royal Wedding”
“A Christmas Prince 3: The Royal Baby”
“A Christmas Prince”
“The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star”
“The Princess Switch”
“The Princess Switch Switched Again”
of a bag in the grocery store, this film won me over,
and I really didn’t expect it. This film takes off with a
meet-cute car crash and never slows down after that
moment. If you watch only one of these films, this is
the one to watch.
Finally, we have the newest movie of the bunch,
“Falling for Christmas.” It’s a fever dream of a film
so far past reality that it is indistinguishable from
satire, but it makes up for it with the world’s worst
raccoon puppet. This film is entirely too earnest while
being entirely detached from reality. You go from
watching Lindsay Lohan in a goofy montage of head-
injury-based sitcom-style nonsense to a sentimental
conversation about the male lead’s dead wife.
Characters will interact with each other like they’ve
known each other for years, then immediately act
completely awkward and stiff with one another. Will
you understand what’s happening? No! Will any of the
characters’ interactions make sense? No! Will there
be pay-off for any idea introduced in this film?
Absolutely Not! Will you have a good time? Absolutely.
Why should you watch these films? You shouldn’t!
But you probably will anyway. Be warned, there is
very little fun to be had and very little sense to be
made, but there are gems and moments that warrant
appreciation. You might enjoy laughing at these
movies, and there’s something to be said about the joy
of hate-watching them. My personal ranking for how
good these films are is as follows:
DESIGN BY NIDHI SHENOY / PHOTO COURTESY OF NETFLIX
worth watching.
the trilogy.
know they aren’t real?” Somewhere between the
medieval knight trying to catch and roast a skunk, and
the scene where the knight cartoonishly eats rolls out
could enjoy this.
The second film introduces nothing but a dating
history that doesn’t matter and way too many
romance-based plot points that exist in one-on-one
BEST OF THE WORST CHRISTMAS FILMS
Kit Montgomery (BFA 2025) is earning their degree
in side quests. Currently, they’re sewing 100 felt rats.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
ARTIST STATEMENT by Nidhi Shenoy
BEHIND THE COVER
EVERY CHANGE
ALL AT ONCE
This section
combines
five images
of a waterfall,
clothes,
and people.
The same five images
of a waterfall, clothes,
and people make a new
Seven imag
water, clot
neighborh
people ove
LIT 23
2023 F NEWSMAGAZINE
Eliza Sullivan (MFAW 2023) is a writer of ghosts and
most recently, octopuses.
Just Don’t Be
the Police
burn the institution in order to save the ideals. I am
grateful that as a young adult they are open to having
these continuous conversations with me, despite their
emotional difficulty. It’s important for me to keep in
mind that these conversations can have love in them.
Then again, I have the privilege of exercising that love.
My next steps were to go to my siblings. I was most
interested in their opinions on how growing up in a
police family affected their well-being and outward
perspectives on timely events. Most simply I wanted
to know how it felt having parents with an occupation
requiring a gun and yearly therapy.
One sibling refused to answer the question, giving
me a “Bruh. Pass.” before answering the much
more general question of how they feel about
modern policing:
“My main problems are more with the prison system, to be
honest; but in terms of policing, I think police are allowed
too little training for dealing with too many circumstances.
Instead of working on preventing crime, they are burdened
by mental health incidents and domestic cases which
should really be handled by social workers.
Also, I donʼt think private police should be allowed,
like, companies should not be able to hire police to protect
business or property. Also, police shouldnʼt be faces for the
state, as in during protests. Their job should solely be to
protect protestors constitutional rights and not to defend
property or the people being protested against. I donʼt
know, police in protest are usually not good, and protests
are handled very poorly by policing, I think.”
This response has similar sentiments to my
father’s; there is not enough training for the
variety of circumstances police face on the daily.
My next sibling’s thoughts ring true with the
previous response:
“I believe that modern policing hasnʼt really done a good
job of keeping up with the times. A lot of long-standing
institutions…they are starting to implement more
technology and hopefully more training. There definitely
needs to be more, a lot more, advancement in training and
knowledge and how to handle new situations that come
up. I believe a lot of people pushing those changes donʼt
actually know what those changes look like and instead
just want to decrease or increase funding. There is no real
push for what should best be done.
“Itʼs about making sure the right people are in the right
job and get the right training. Figuring out what that is
though is not something people are talking about. “There
needs to be police reform.” What reform? Dadʼs talked
about how thereʼs an issue where they want non-police
responders to certain incidents, but no one wants to do it.
It just doesnʼt work out.”
Their responses suggest that there is an undeniable
and unavoidable problem with policing, and
simultaneously argue that there is no real fix, and I
have to echo their statements — it’s not the discussion
or more or less money, more or less training. It seems
that the conversations stall when we ask what the
police are and what we want them to be able to do.
The place where the conversation stops is where most
of the answers lie.
The longest discussion I had was two hours on the
floor of my childhood bedroom in the dark. I picked
at the tufts of unfurled carpet, laughed and nervously
shrugged. How do you have a conversation like this
when everything you say or don’t say divides you
further apart?
The things I took away from that conversation were
ideas we’ve heard inside our childhood home’s walls
before: It’s not possible currently to separate policing
and racism, not logistically, and not in people’s heads.
That beyond law enforcement lies several other
institutions just like it, with the same systemic issues.
As children who grew up with a lot of pro-police
propaganda and a lot of horror stories (sexual assault
and suicide being main themes of car rides, due to
our morbid curiosities), my siblings’ responses were
hopeful and more timely than I expected. However,
the question I never got the answer to, how they
felt growing up in a police family, none of them felt
comfortable answering, out of fear, or out of judgment.
So I will.
There is no separation between work and home.
With a job like that, it’s nearly impossible. My parents
were strict. They were terrified of most everything,
especially men. They took their stresses home. I
crafted empathy and sympathy from an age where I
was still trying to craft it for myself too, which created
a complex relationship between me and the people
my parents worked for.
There is no snapping out of the mindset when you
come home from a job that has a holster. My parents
lashed out at me. I lashed out at them. Sometimes, I felt
like I was being treated like I was being arrested, put
away, and waiting for a fair trial that would never come.
Most of the time, I felt like I had the best parents on
the planet. Both of these things are true and exist at the
same time.
I know that my parents see the problems and the
dangers of the occupation. There was one thing I always
heard before my dad left for work, or at the dinner table
before he left to clean his plate, but mostly when I was
applying for colleges:
“You can be anything you want — Just don’t be
the police.”
A 5 a.m. text I sent to my dad the following morning:
“Thank you for sharing, Dad. I really appreciate it.
I hope you have a good day at work!! Be safe. Love you.”
MY PARENTS WERE STRICT.
THEY WERE TERRIFIED
OF MOST EVERYTHING,
ESPECIALLY MEN.
2023
Just Don’t Be
Just Don’t Be
the Police
burn the institution in order to save the ideals. I am
grateful that as a young adult they are open to having
these continuous conversations with me, despite their
emotional difficulty. It’s important for me to keep in
mind that these conversations can have love in them.
Then again, I have the privilege of exercising that love.
My next steps were to go to my siblings. I was most
interested in their opinions on how growing up in a
perspectives on timely events. Most simply I wanted
to know how it felt having parents with an occupation
requiring a gun and yearly therapy.
One sibling refused to answer the question, giving
me a “Bruh. Pass.” before answering the much
more general question of how they feel about
modern policing:
“My main problems are more with the prison system, to be
honest; but in terms of policing, I think police are allowed
too little training for dealing with too many circumstances.
Instead of working on preventing crime, they are burdened
by mental health incidents and domestic cases which
should really be handled by social workers.
Also, I donʼt think private police should be allowed,
like, companies should not be able to hire police to protect
business or property. Also, police shouldnʼt be faces for the
state, as in during protests. Their job should solely be to
protect protestors constitutional rights and not to defend
property or the people being protested against. I donʼt
know, police in protest are usually not good, and protests
are handled very poorly by policing, I think.”
This response has similar sentiments to my
father’s; there is not enough training for the
variety of circumstances police face on the daily.
My next sibling’s thoughts ring true with the
previous response:
“I believe that modern policing hasnʼt really done a good
job of keeping up with the times. A lot of long-standing
institutions…they are starting to implement more
technology and hopefully more training. There definitely
needs to be more, a lot more, advancement in training and
up. I believe a lot of people pushing those changes donʼt
actually know what those changes look like and instead
just want to decrease or increase funding. There is no real
push for what should best be done.
“Itʼs about making sure the right people are in the right
job and get the right training. Figuring out what that is
though is not something people are talking about. “There
needs to be police reform.” What reform? Dadʼs talked
FNEWSMAGAZINE.COM
22 LIT MARCH
Conversations with a police family.
INTERVIEWS by Eliza Sullivan
You Can Be
Anything
You Want
Growing up with parents in such a political job is
not all privilege and getting out of speeding tickets
— having police as parents is a heavy weight, for
many reasons. My dad is a commander at a police
department (that will remain unnamed, although he
did ask for a cool code name), and he has been with
that department since 2001. My mother served as a
police officer at a nearby department between 1990-
2000 before retiring to raise her children. Growing
up in a police family has severely impacted the way
that I view the world, and with increasing cases of
police brutality and murder, it’s only gotten more
complicated at the dinner table.
We talk about police in the SAIC community often,
as we should. The more we talk about it, the more I
realize the privilege I have in receiving answers, even
if they aren’t the ones I’m looking for. My own feelings
on policing remain pendulum-esque. I’m proud.
I’m nervous.
I asked questions intending to receive answers
providing an inside look at how police officers, former
and present, see modern policing. I interviewed my
immediate family members (some spoke more than
others) to investigate how growing up under these
conditions affected our worldview and our perspective
on current events. My family members have chosen to
stay anonymous.
The first person I asked was my mother. Her
anxieties lay in the trauma she experienced and
dealing with that while raising a family:
Q: What have you taken away from your time in the
police department?
“I do feel that having been a police officer has had a negative
impact on me to this day. At the time, citizens could call in
a complaint anonymously and have it investigated, even if
unfounded it went into your file. I saw dead newborns in
dumpsters and in laundry baskets. I handled sexual assaults,
aggravated batteries and robberies, murders. It created a
fear in me that someone would take or hurt my children. The
experience caused me to be painfully aware of people and my
surroundings, creating anxiety, a burden that I still carry
with me today. It burst open my perspective that there is
good in everyone. I know now that there are people in this
world who are innately evil and have no regard for others or
decency in general. And that can be very scary.”
I resonate with her answers — as if motherhood
wasn’t scary enough. Although my mother and I have
differences when it comes to policing today, there is
one thing that we cannot help but agree on — there
seems to be no easy solution to the issue. My mother
is in education now, and it suits her well. What I was
surprised she did not mention, however, was the awards
she received during her time in the department and for
her service. In fact, we have a news article about her
hanging on the wall, and I can’t remember a time
when I didn’t stop to read it while walking through
my dad’s office.
My dad holds similar sentiments to my mother. He’s
a commander, working his way up the ranks through
the years. Beyond his main role as a police officer, he
also has a law degree. As a child, he would give me his
police shirts to sleep with, “magic shirts” I called them.
They protected me from nightmares. Here’s what he
had to share:
Q: What do you think about modern policing?
“I think due to years of fiscal pressure that every ill of
society has been thrust into jurisdiction of the police:
the homeless, mentally ill, all these issues that the police
were never trained in or expected to take care of, and
when things didnʼt go well, the police were left. No one
else could handle the homeless or the mental health issues
that have cropped up or the disenfranchised people. So,
it just kept being pushed onto the police, asking them to
do more and more, and the job has become untenable. …
Iʼve been online where theyʼve been reading nametags off
and next thing you know theyʼre reading off your home
address, the name of your spouse, your kids, because itʼs
all online. … Thatʼs a lot. Thatʼs a lot of weight to carry on
your shoulders. So, I think itʼs going to take years to figure
out exactly the role of the police and get it back to where
itʼs supposed to be, or realize that there needs to be more
funding because no one entity can do the amount of jobs
that the police department are currently doing.”
My dad would work double shifts, sometimes three
in a row, to provide for us when we were young. He
never slept. He’s more open about that now, but I was
less concerned about his sleeplessness when he was at
my competitions and terrible recitals. He always made
sure to be there for me, a field discipline he mirrored
at work.
It’s unsurprising that both my parents’ responses
had somewhat to do with the value of family, and the
protection of it. Their responses also had much to do
with the question of, if not the police, who? It begs the
larger question of if we need police, and if we need to
ILLUSTRATION BY SHIJING LI (MFA VCD 2023)
She was deeply afraid that she was not a gem, so she
dared not work hard to improve herself, yet she half-
believed that she was a gem, so she refused to live an
ordinary life and be with rubble.

19
Page Composition
Deck / By-line
Every article will also have a deck and a
by-line. The deck is a short sentence that
sparks intrigue for the article, or a short way
to summarize the article. The by-line is a line
indicating who the article is written by.
Color: The deck is always going to be black.
The only word in color will be first word in
the by-line, which is indicative of what type
of article it is going to be.
Size: The deck is always going to have
the same size specified on the right. The
template file will always have the correct
deck size by default.
Composition: The deck is not as flexible
as the headline. Unless specific design
requires a special text treatment, the
deck’s composition will be kept the same.
It is, however, totally okay to use multiple
lines to break up the deck. Also, it is
okay for the deck to be flushed right if it
enhances the composition.
20 pt
Source Serif Pro
Bold
12 pt
Source Serif Pro
Bold
all Caps
theme color
12 pt
Source Serif Pro
Bold
21 pt leading
20 pt leading
One line deck example →
Two line deck example →
“The Knight b
“Falling for C
“A Christmas
“A Christmas
“A Christmas
“The Princes
of a bag in the grocery
and I really didn’t expe
meet-cute car crash an
moment. If you watch
the one to watch.
Finally, we have the
“Falling for Christmas
so far past reality that i
satire, but it makes up
raccoon puppet. This fi
being entirely detached
watching Lindsay Loha
injury-based sitcom-sty
conversation about the
Characters will interac
known each other for y
completely awkward an
you understand what’s
characters’ interaction
be pay-off for any idea
Absolutely Not! Will yo
Why should you wat
But you probably will a
very little fun to be had
made, but there are gem
appreciation. You migh
movies, and there’s som
of hate-watching them
good these films are is
worth watching.
the trilogy.
could enjoy this.
BEST OF THE WORST CHRISTMAS FI
1
2
3
4
5
6
lows feel raw because o
excess: They are drawn
to put words to.
“Keeping Two” is no
moments in the relation
novel Connie and Will k
is the same miserable n
But “Keeping Two” is an
characters can be hurtf
bitter, loud, and mean,
caring, quiet, patient, a
yell at each other over b
embrace each other in
on the drive home, both couples struggle to see eye
to eye in moments of tension. Later, it’s revealed that
Will dislikes the book and its melancholy, but Connie
defends it. This becomes a turning point in their
relationship — at the end of the novel where Daniel
and Claire are stranded in the ocean, Connie notes it’s
not a miserable ending to her: “If they drown … you
are drowning them.”
“Keeping Two” is not a novel for the faint of heart.
Characters grapple with pregnancy complications,
suicidal ideation, and intrusive thoughts in ways that
are intense that only a graphic novel can deliever:
imagining everything that could happen to your
ʻKeeping Twoʼ by Jordan Crane, Fantagraphic Books,
2022, Hardcover, $29.99
Comics are a medium of image, but it’s not often that
an artist can make an image feel like sound, make
lines on paper fill your head with noise. “Keeping
Two” by Jordan Crane achieves this: The thick lines
become the sound of a crunch, shining flares become
the sound of bells, and the story itself conducts a
sweeping symphony in the reader’s head.
“Keeping Two” at its core is the story of a young
couple, Connie and Will. After a long day of stressful
highway driving, the couple arrives home. Unsure
Jordan Craneʼs ʻKeeping Twoʼ mixes the
mundane and the miserable to make magic.
REVIEW by Teddie Bernard
Is Forever
Five Hours
BOOK REVIEW
2023 F NEWSMAGAZINE

FNewsMagazine Designer Brief V1.3.pdf

FNewsMagazine Designer Brief V1.3.pdf

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