The newspaper industry was going through significant changes when I graduated from journalism school in 2009, but I still followed my dream to work at a newspaper by accepting jobs in the Hilton Head Island, S.C., area and then in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.
Below are some examples of my work.
The National, Abu Dhabi
At The National in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E, I was the sole designer responsible for the news section. I worked each night on deadline on the front page, a features page and any major spreads that came up throughout the night. I directed the design for the rest of the section and trained the production editors on basic design principles.
The Island Packet/Beaufort Gazette
At The Island Packet/Beaufort Gazette (a combined newspaper serving the communities of Beaufort County, S.C.), I started as a news designer and copy editor. For these pages, I not only designed but edited, wrote headlines and captions, and sometimes created infoboxes to go with the stories. Within six months, I was trusted to work on the front page of the paper each night. After two years, I moved to the features department as the features production editor.
Regan McTarsney 