Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Profile in Design: Allison Rossignol


Things have been tough lately for the artists among us working at newspapers. The Philadelphia Inquirer announced it will lay off 7 photographers, 2 photo editors, 3 lab technicians and 3 designers. The Daily News will lay off a photographer and a graphic artist (and that's just the photo department). The Tribune Company, owners of The Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times among others, filed for bankruptcy. The Detroit Free Press will be canceling delivery service Monday through Wednesday. City Paper recently laid off a designer in the already-too-thin art department, leaving four full time staffers and a part timer to lay out the paper (as well as design all the ads) on a weekly basis.

On the positive, Allison Rossignol is the senior designer at City Paper. She designed "Stenton Avenue Reprise: Jazz At Long Last Returns To East Mount Airy," the photo essay that I worked on with reporter Rick Valenzuela. Loyal readers will remember the photo essay taking home the national first place award for photography (from the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies) in 2008. The layouts were recently published in the AAN book "Best of 2008." Click on each page to see the work, strong design brings a photo essay to life.











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