By Annisa Charles
Fullerton College students who contributed to Inside Fullerton’s Fall 2019 issue were awarded General Excellence at this year’s Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC) conference. Other wins for various students included second place in Magazine Design/Layout, third place in Magazine Cover Design, third place in Magazine Photo, and an honorable mention for a Magazine News Feature.
The JACC helps students in community college network with professional journalists and hosts events to showcase each school’s work.
General Excellence is awarded for overall quality and content of the magazine, from design to layout, photography, writing and editing. JACC is looking for magazines to be professional and for the students to be ready for the journalism world.
Joshua Villafranco, editor-in-chief, explained a lot of hours went into this past magazine. Communication with each other was a key element, Villafranco explained. He would work one-on-one with the writers to help them find sources and figure out their angle on the story.
Graphic designer Elise Galbraith won second place for Magazine Design/Layout and third place for Magazine Cover Design.
“This was the most difficult yet rewarding project I’ve ever approached… I’m immensely proud of the finished design and humbled at the positive reception it has received,” Galbraith says.
She took inspiration from famous graphic designers like Paul Rand and Saul Bass. Galbraith was further inspired for her designs by looking at current designers’ work on Behance and from other magazines like Surfer’s Journal and Little White Lies.
Photographer Logan Martinez won third place in Magazine Photo for the cover photo of the news feature Nerds Reclaim Their Identity by Sam Serrano. When awarding Magazine Photo, JACC is looking for story-telling abilities and a photo that makes a visual impact. Martinez’s photo is of Mindi Cartwright out-of-focus while she holds up her vividly painted sneaker that is in crisp vision.
Martinez says, “I jumped into the team last minute and I took every opportunity I could. I was out taking photos for hours but I had so much fun taking all the photos and I think the magazine turned out amazing.”
Samuel Serrano, one of our current editors, received honorable mention for Magazine News Feature for Nerds Reclaim Their Identity. Serrano’s article goes into detail about how nerd culture has changed over the years and that certain locations in Fullerton allow people to embrace their inner nerd. Serrano explains this was his first story as a journalist and he had to get out of his comfort zone in order to write this.
“The idea of tracking down leads and actually having to conduct interviews terrified me. What helped me through that was my passion for the subject, because I’m a nerd and these were my people. I wanted to do my best to represent them,” says Serrano.
All of these mentioned staff members have returned to work on the Summer 2020 Inside Fullerton issue. The 2020 issue will be released online in June and will be available in print later in the year.