My time spent at the Portland Mercury was fast-paced, ever-changing, and about the coolest learning experience I’ve had to date. The turnover rate for news media is extremely fast, and the budget is totally miniscule. Those restrictions alone come with a lot of DIY problem solving and in-office production. Not to mention we also would put out special publications and did an entire newspaper rebrand while building a weekly paper!
At the Merc I served as an in-house illustrator and designer. My continuing role was the weekly “Party Review” and editing rounds of pages for final print. I also got to build endless systems for the food-weeks such as Burger and Pizza Week, as well as create special spreads for the Eat & Drink Guide.