Photo courtesy of Catja Christensen.
It’s Layout Sunday, and while most members of the TCV team are strewn about the office making final article edits, our two wonderful Layout Editors are hard at work preparing this issue for print. Zoe Dubelier ‘23 and Robbie Lynch ‘24 are our invaluable behind-the-scenes duo. Ever wonder what it’s like to mess with margins and fiddle with photos? Find out in this exclusive interview and learn more about our unsung heroes.
Outside of the office, our layout legends are always running around campus (literally and figuratively). Dubelier is a History and Government double major in the Peace and Conflict Pathway. She’s also Chapter Leader for Eye to Eye, an Outdoor Adventures trip leader, and a Writing Center Tutor. Lynch is an Economics and Psychology double major in the Data, Information, and Society Pathway and runs on the Men’s Cross Country/Track and Field team. With such busy schedules, what drew them to work for TCV?
Lynch has always had an interest in graphic design, and he joined the team as a first-year. His mom is a graphic designer too, which sparked his passion for the field. “Growing up I’d always see the work she’d done and think ‘damn that’s really cool.’ She’s taught me a lot of what I know how to do with Photoshop and Illustrator.” He taught himself more skills, like using InDesign for layout, by doing small projects for friends, school, and sports teams. “I’ve stuck with it because it’s a great creative outlet!” he says. “Since joining it’s been a lot of fun, I recommend it to anyone who’s trying to get more connected to the Conn community.” His Photoshop skills have been used for cover art across several issues, so keep an eye out for his exclusive work!
Dubelier says she joined in fall 2021 “because one of my close friends who was joining the editorial team wanted more friends and encouraged me to apply. I finally looked at the positions and decided the layout was the best fit for me.” Dubelier’s interest in design started from a sixth-grade technology class where she was tasked with designing a menu and poster for a fake restaurant. “I taught myself all the very limited design tools on Word to make the prettiest (probably ugliest now look back) menu,” she reflects. “From there, I learned about Canva in college which is 80,000,000 times better than Word, and I like the fonts better.” Like Lynch, she grew her skills by making posters for clubs on campus and random projects for friends.
As fun and creative as layout can be, it also comes with its challenges. TCV has been including more photo spreads from student photographers, which are visually appealing and provide a splash of color among blocks of text. For issue 8, TCV featured a sneak peek into the newly renovated Palmer Auditorium with a photo collage. “The pictures of Palmer were infuriating,” Dubelier. Working with inconsistent oblong photos and finding ways to make them fit nicely on the page takes patience and imagination. “Zoe and I stared at the pictures for 30 minutes trying to figure out how we were going to make it work,” Lynch recalls. “Now that it’s finished I’m super happy with how it turned out. Everyone should go back and admire that page now.” As they became more familiar with manipulating photos, photo collages became less daunting and more exciting. Some of their highlights include the POCA fashion show and senior dance Capstones from the previous two issues.
Do they read the articles during layout? No. “When I’m editing, I don’t really read the articles. I think people should know that,” Lynch confesses. However, some articles just stand out amidst the hours of endless font sizing, space filling, and photo arranging. “The most unique concept for an article was the Mattress Mack Story [written by Johnny Alexandre ‘22],” he says. Dubelier agrees saying, “We talked about [The Legend of Mattress Mack] quite a bit in the office. Other than that, I like the “Win $3000 If You Read This Article,” which we came up with on the spot in the office.” She cheekily adds, “A fun extra part of our job is to judge titles and write new ones when they’re [not compelling] or long.”
They do pick up the paper from Shain Library, the coffee shops, Fanning, or Cro after the print editions arrive, and they peruse the articles they painstakingly laid out once the work is done. “It’s nice to see the work I’ve done in print. It’s even more cool when I see a stranger reading TCV!” Lynch explains. “I don’t normally read many articles,” Dubelier confesses, “But I always pick it up to see the crossword!” Dubelier creates original puzzles with me each week with unique themes. Grab a pen and try it out in the Arts section! Never picked up a paper before? Make Lynch feel even cooler and go read one!
After many hours in the office, the pair can feel “a little delirious after staring at a screen all day,” but “seeing the paper come together” is very rewarding. In this state of post-editing delirium, here are some rapid-fire Q and As:
Favorite fonts:
ZD: “I love the classic Times New Roman, but if we’re getting fancy on Canva, I am between Maharlika (which is like pretty Times New Roman) and Moontime, which is kinda a fancy cursive — very appealing to the eye. But honestly, I rarely use anything but Times New Roman.”
RL: “Recently I’ve been using Cambria for all my assignments. Everyone uses Times New Roman! Gotta keep the professors on their toes. A few fonts I like to use on Illustrator are Phosphate, Cubano, and Livermore Script ATF.”
Favorite desktop for layout:
ZD: “The big one? It’s the one that we confidently know has the drop box and every other computer is gamble, which means we turn on like 2 to guess which one will have the drop box today. Plus the screen is big and I don’t have great eyesight and don’t wear my glasses to edit.”
RL: “Favorite desktop is definitely the large Mac in the middle of the office. I can’t prove it, but I’ve got a hunch that it’s twice as fast as the other Macs.”
Favorite office chairs:
ZD: “Blue and gray. The red one is awful. I don’t like the armrests.”
RL: “Also blue and gray. The brown chair is nice but not as nice.”
