It’s not the sexiest page I’ve designed. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned from my time as a full-time reporter, and I’ve taken that into the design realm of my job, it’s that they don’t ALL have to be masterpieces. I enjoyed this one though because I was able to add a little something something to it. Mainly, this quote from Jim Harbaugh, who was quoting Ernest Hemmingway when talking about his team. Here’s a closer look at the page’s main art.

I also wrote the two stories on the bottom. I’ll post link to the one on the left in particular later in a different post.

Stay in school, kids. It’s good for you; good FOR you.

And by game, I mean the NFC Title Game. I’ve been a San Francisco 49ers fan since 1990 — that franchise and the S.F Giants are the reason why I got into journalism in the first place. So, it’s with greater heartbreak that despite my loyalty to an objective journalistic point of view, I watched the 49ers lose today. Maybe I’ll write my thoughts in the morning after some needed sleep. But for now, what every 49er fan should take away from this is that WE’RE BACK. We’re going to compete. And above us, remember to stay …

I used Alex Smith last week as my anchor. I decided to switch up for the NFC title game and use linebacker Patrick Willis. Dude is a beast. But first, my original idea was to get some original artwork for the anchor and I recruited my BFAM McWendell Roth to draw something I could use. Dude has got some major talent and it’s always great to be original with these things. We chatted it up and he agreed. With him onboard, I got to doodling a bit to see what elements I wanted in the graphic. Here’s the original sketch.

Those circle things on the left? That is supposed to be McWendell’s artwork. As you can see, it didn’t turn out that way. Time is an enemy on these things. On top of doing reporter work, building a graphic of this size is time consuming. Unfortunately, while Mac got my drift on the concept I wanted, the size wasn’t ever discussed. Thus, when Tuesday rolled around, I still had nothing — by the time Wednesday rolled around and Mac sent me a better idea of the size, I tinkered with it and realized it wasn’t going to work. I knew Mac would do an awesome job and I knew I could use and highlight his work in a better way (more on that later).

So, Patrick Willis. How do you make Patrick Willis bigger and cooler. Here’s the original image that I used for as my inspiration. I had other photos of his, and played with those a bit. But I realized that it wasn’t going to work. As a designer, I consider myself very much a problem solver. And not having a picture big enough was a problem.

After talking to Mac and seeing some of his inspirations, we decided to go in the ‘water color’ route. I thought, ‘great.’ I’ve always done the splattered look. It’s like, my style now. Playing with something a little different was fun, but it’s also a little intimidating. I can do the splatter thing well. Never done the water color thing. Anyways, I went about my process like I always do. Mostly trial and (plenty of) error(s).

Before all this, I’d be remised not to mention the information gathering process. Once I had an idea of what I wanted IN the graphic, it’s a matter of gathering as much USEFUL (and useless too, why not?) information as possible. I tracked down playoff histories, old photos, statistics, listens to a ton of sports talk radio to gather an idea of how I thought the game will play out … it’s a lot of work. But it’s important. Making graphics is just like writing a good article. It’s storytelling, but visually. That’s the beauty of the process. I now consider myself an expert in all things Niners vs. Giants.

Then I went about recycling old ideas and trying to make them better. The football field? An old idea, but I didn’t like how I had the perspective before, so I distorted it a lot more this time around … the ‘Advantage Bar’? An old idea. The timeline(ish) on the bottom? Old idea. So is the route to the left. The Facebook input? Old. Pie chart from an online poll? You guessed it.

While all this going, Mac is working on his art. Come Thursday afternoon, I get an email with it attached. It’s great. Original. And he captured the idea that I wanted. He stuck with the watercolor theme. And after a night’s sleep, it was time to design a FRONT PAGE spot. Those are fun and required with July! graphics. I’m not going to post the file Mac sent me. Don’t want people stealing it. But, I will post my front page ideas. I wanted to give my editor, Jon Mays, options. Here are a couple:

I was hoping and prayin’ that we’d be able to use one of the vertical ones. I felt going in that with the more squared approach, we’d be squeezing the text on the right too much. But as are all things at the Daily Journal, it’s about space and utilizing it to the best of our abilities. Mac is The Man. We’ve worked together in the past and I hope we continue to do so in the future. Here’s what his work looks like on the front page of the Daily Journal.

Let’s see, it’s late and I’m thinking whether I left anything out. No. That about covers it. I don’t want to jinx anything, BUT, IF … well, let’s wait until Sunday. Gosh, I hope the Niners win.

Last year, my Latino music adventures took me to Los Angeles to see Mana in concert. I caught the first two shows of a four-night stop at the Staples Center, marking the eighth time Mana has sold out that venue. Last week, to my anticipation (and prediction), Mana announced their return to the U.S. Admittedly, being a Mana fan isn’t what it used to be. But still, I’m super excited to see their show again … something about that first love that always gets you. Here are the U.S. tour dates. Tickets go on sale Feb. 3rd. 

If you’ve never been to a Mana show … go. If you have been … go again. We’ll see you in Oakland on April 19. Perhaps even Sacramento on April 17.

A ton has changed since that time … new job, new title, new look (but not my love for the passive voice, I guess). Never would I have thought that 34,000 people would randomly come across July! in these last 21 months. It’s pretty flattering. Thank you everyone that has followed my adventures.

Per the suggestion of one of July’s readers (Mrs. T!), I decided to change the header. Same me, just a tad lighter. And now older. Urgh.

Anyway, that is all for now. Thanks again for reading.

Somewhere in between writing my post for the Top Concerts of the Year and right now, I juggled about 17 different things — not the least of which was my birthday (so, cheers, to me, on turning 29). But one of the things I did work on was an infographic to commemorate the San Francisco 49ers (the team of my youth) and their return to the NFL Playoffs. Color me excited. Actually, I wasn’t going to build one, BUT, I just had to because it’s an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. SO, without having a whole lot of time, this is what I came with.

The lesson here, boys and girls, is that’s OK to recycle. Two seasons ago, I designed a preview page for the 49ers that never saw print. This year, lacking the time, I took of those same elements and moved them around a little bit to fit my idea for the playoff preview. The image of Alex Smith is the same, and I reused the football field, but then I worked around those and added different elements.

I liked the end product. I thought it was clean and effectively gave our readers tidbits of information. Sure, I would have loved to do a larger piece. But, I’ll save that idea for the Super Bowl (IF we make it … IF). Oh, I also put together a quick teaser for the front page. Here is it.

Nice seeing everyone again. I have a ton to blog about, just haven’t had the time. But, I will. Scouts honor.

Oh, GO NINERS!!

Three-hundred-fifty-seven days ago, I moved a box of belongings some 40 feet over to a vacant desk in the San Mateo Daily Journal office. It was then that sports editor Nathan Mollat threw me the keys to the Peninsula Sportsmobile and basically said, “don’t crash it, my friend.”
And boy, what a ride it’s been. It isn’t that the San Mateo County sports scene was a foreign thing to me before — I spent time corresponding for a couple different newspapers in the past. But year one of my full-time reporter experience has been chock-full of great moments — how time flies when you’re having fun.

Team of the Year — The nominees here are plenty — from the Menlo-Atherton girls’ volleyball team, the South City wrestling team, the Menlo boys’ tennis team, the Terra Nova girls’ basketball team. The nod here goes to the Serra football team. I considered myself very fortunate to cover the majority of their football games, including their CCS winning game against Menlo-Atherton. They’re a great collection of athletes and young men who made history and most of the time, looked silky smooth and damn-near unstoppable. Plus, because of the Padres, I made my television debut during halftime of their away win against St. Francis (shoutout to CSN. I hope your ratings didn’t take that big of a hit).

Awesome Interview of the Year — Talking to so many people daily, you can see how one can get hundreds of interviews all mixed up. My nod here goes to a couple that stood out in my mind because of the candid nature that produced some great quotes. First, my favorite postgame interview with a coach was a talk with M-A soccer coach Jacob Pickard following a loss to Burlingame on the away turn of their 2010 season. Pickard didn’t mince words, visibly upset at his players’ performance. On the player-side, El Camino’s Trevor Kelly turned what was supposed to be a 15-minute Athlete of the Year chat into 50 minutes of sound-bite gold. It’s a shame I didn’t get to use them all. I left the El Camino campus knowing why so many coaches raved about this young man.

Student Section of the Year — The majority of the student sections in the county are good, but very few are great. Quick shoutouts go to Sacred Heart Prep’s Sixth Man, as well as M-A’s. Burlingame, you get some love too for perhaps the most consistent support. Menlo as well. But far and away my favorite are the boys from Serra High School. More often than not, the Padre student section is on-point with their chants and fill football fields and basketball gyms with great energy. I was on the sideline for an away game against St. Ignatius. Outnumbered 4-to-1, Serra’s pack of fans did the same thing its players did on the field to the Wildcats (that, “SWEEATTERRSS” chant is a classic). Check the score to see what I mean.

Snack Shack of the Year — Admittedly, I don’t frequent snack shacks like I used to. I was a regular connoisseur back in the day. With that said, my nod here goes to the fine people at the South City snack shack. On a cold, rainy day in November, the hot chocolate and rice bowl hit the spot. Honorable mention goes to the chefs at Woodside High — the Wildcats take the Burger of the Year award. While not a high school, the best thing I ate while on assignment was a tri-tip sandwich at the Belmont Sports Complex during the District 52 tournament. I heard they have their shack catered though, so I’m checking with the judges to see if that’s allowed.

Best Rivalry — There are those rivalries I knew were good coming in, but over the course of the season, a pair stood out as the most heated — and they’re both on the soccer pitch. On the girls’ side, San Mateo and Aragon clashed twice in Bay Division play. In game one at San Mateo, Katelyn Turtletaub came off the bench playing on a bum leg and her play produced the game-winning Dayna Sakuta goal. Aragon wasn’t happy, and a couple of weeks later, battled the Bearcats and outworked them for a 3-1 revenge win. There were plenty of hard fouls, trash-talking and extracurricular activities. What sold it for me was, after the 3-1 game, I asked Aragon midfielder Kat McAuliffe how much of the win was payback for that 1-0 loss. She said, “oh, it was all payback.”

We stay chilling in Intensity City for a bit and look back at the Burlingame/Menlo-Atherton rivalry in boys’ soccer. In Game 1, the Panthers were simply outplayed and outhustled in a 2-1 loss to the Bears, prompting Burlingame Mike Sharabi to say, “The next time we see these guys at our place I think it’s going to be a different result.” Turns out, he’s not just a coach, but a prophet as well. In Game 2, the Panthers looked like a completely different team, winning 2-1. Once again, plenty of hard fouls, yellow cards and most importantly, quality soccer.

Individual Performance of the Year — This is a tough one, the list of nominees here is long and they’re all dominating — Michael Latu against Hillsdale with 233 yards rushing in the second half including three very long, very awesome touchdowns; Charlotte Pratt and her 16-goal scoring clinic against Willow Glen in a 20-19 double-overtime win (perhaps the Game of the Year); Jordan Richwood’s 10-strikeout, two-hit masterpiece against Aragon (or any Richwood game for that matter); Thomas Cox of Serra against Burlingame (11 Ks in a 3-1 win).

But the winner here is Serra’s Erich Wilson and his six-touchdown dismantling of Wilcox in the Padres’ season opener. Wilson touched the ball 12 times in that game — half of those he found himself in the end zone. He could have easily scored seven or eight if he hadn’t basically sat out the entire second half. Truth is, pick any of Wilson’s games in 2011 (244 yards, 4 TDs versus St. Ignatius, 228 3 TDs versus Milpitas) — the man was a machine.

Wilson is also responsible for the Play of the Year. In the CCS title game against M-A, No. 21 intercepted a pass at the 36-yard line in the fourth quarter. Upon picking the ball off, Wilson ran a clear 53 yards across the field, juking three Bears along the way, Then, turning a dime, the man bolted down the M-A sideline and glided beautifully and violently down the Bears’ sideline for the nail in the coffin. It was his second insanely-ridiculous run of the game in which he ran clear across the field, found a crease and was gone — the run prompted @CheckkThissOutt (Nathan Mollat to the rest of you) to tweet “wow, that was impressive.” Understatement City, boss.

Female Athlete of the Year — Our publication gave San Mateo Karyn Jacobs the honor at the end of the school year, and deservedly so. Jacobs is supremely gifted and fearless as an athlete. She’s one of a few superb three-sport athletes still left in the county — they truly are rare considering how many athletes are so sport-specific nowadays. But there were others girls who left great impressions in Year 1. There was no one faster with a ball on her feet than Woodside’s Taylor Duffner; no one gutsier (and crazier) than San Mateo’s Turtletaub; Richwood was the definition of dominating; Terra Nova’s Terilyn Moe is a stud; Who has bigger hops than Aragon’s Chanel Joyce? Maybe M-A’s Seini Moimoi; Lauren Croshaw, also a Don, is a running machine.

Male Athlete of the Year — I’m going to sound like a broken record, but Serra’s Wilson was just that good. But I’d be remise not to mention Kelly from El Camino, Freddy Avis and Jake Bruml of Menlo baseball, Aaron Orr of M-A, Rodrigo Puliceno of Burlingame, Brian Ha of El Camino, Nick Hale of Menlo and Josh Lauese of Sequoia as some of my favorites.

Well, it’s that time of year again where we go about choosing our Athletes of the Year. Every year since I’ve been at the Daily Journal, I’ve taken it upon myself to come up with a theme in order to present the Athletes of the Year with a bit more flash. Sometimes it works, sometimes it bombs, but it’s always (a) a boatload of work and (b) fun << this being the most important thing. This year’s theme was “MONEY PLAYERS.” Don’t ask me where I got the idea from. I just did. After some tinkering on Photoshop, we are now all systems go for 2011.

FOOTBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR — SERRA’S ERICH WILSON

I wrote the accompanying piece that goes with Day 1′s graphic … as you may have guess, it goes in that white space there. Unfortunately, the front page of sports landed on a b/w page today, so, you don’t get to see what it looked like with the text. Here’s a bit of the story:

WILSON: FOOTBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
By Julio Lara • Daily Journal Staff

Before you read any further, you should know that you’re already behind. 

Because you blinked — and that’s all it takes. 

Don’t feel too bad though. You should also know that on 36 different occasions entire high school football defenses did the exact same thing and just like that, Serra’s Erich Wilson was gone — destination: the end zone, the records books and eventually, Padre immortality. 

And all it took was a missed tackle, a small window or a blink.

I’d like to go on record as saying that Erich is the best running back I have ever seen at the high school level. I tried thinking if there was another player I have seen at his level. The only name that came to mind for me was a kid named Simmons who played for Jefferson when I was in high school — he was probably as fast but not as long and strong. Other than that, I really can’t think of anyone on the same level.

Choosing Wilson was made relatively easier once Terra Nova’s Chris Forbes was knocked out of the playoffs. For a while there, it was pretty close in terms of who we were thinking about choosing. Forbes’ numbers were untouched in CCS (expect for maybe that kid from Gilroy who’s very good, too). But as Wilson kept breaking records and with the Padres winning CCS, it became a no-brainer.

As always, the bigger projects come with a front page spot, here’s the one that goes with this one.

I wonder how many readers picked up the paper today and said, “what’s ‘ballin’” … LOL. Sorry, I grew up with slang, plus my copy editor on Sunday night seem to understand exactly what it meant. Not that Bill Silverfarb is OLD, but he’s older than me.

Anywho, Tuesday is volleyball, followed by water polo, cross country, golf/tennis.

If you picked a copy of today’s Daily Journal, you have already seen that we decided to select an All-Daily Journal Football Team. In my three years of being at the Daily Journal, we’ve never selected one. I can definitely see why … it’s hard to pick. There are a lot of things to consider, lots of players, different leagues, two-way players etc. etc. But I decided to take it upon myself to study a bit and find who I thought would make a great team. The skill players obviously are a bit easier. Here’s who we went with.

There is a story, or more like a rundown, that accompanies it, that ran in today’s edition of the Daily Journal. You can read that here.

Congratulations to the players. I’ve been covering sports on the Peninsula for about five years now, and the 2011 season was my favorite … mostly because it was my first FULL season, with football 24/7, constantly talking to coaches, watching games, reading results. Now, onto basketball and futbol.

I kept getting texts from my boy, Allan A., during the day as I was covering a soccer game with bits and pieces from WATCH THE THRONE’S “N***** in Paris,” which kept cracking me up and all it did was get me more excited to see the show. Haha. I don’t even know what that means? No one knows.

Honestly, a little more intrigued to see Kanye West seeing as though I had seen Jay-Z in concert before. The tour was a big deal and I wanted to write the review as such. Honestly, there is no real way you can be disappointed if you go to a concert with two of the biggest monsters in music. As (almost) always, the photos were taken by Matthew Maniego, Brother-From-Another-Mother. We sat at an In & Out after the concert going through about 1,000 shots from the concert. Beforehand, Matt apologized and said he probably had FIVE decent shots from the concert. I said bullshit. And as we went through them, I was right.

Here’s a bit of the review:

HISTORY IN THE MAKING
By Julio Lara • Daily Journal Staff

Step one in evaluating the hip-hop masterpiece that was the “Watch the Throne” tour stop in San Jose with Jay-Z and Kanye West, is for everyone to admit that we have reached the proverbial peak and that there is nowhere to go from here but down.

Before you go and disagree, ask yourself if there is another pair of rappers on the face of the planet you would rather watch and listen to as they crank out hit after hit after hit? Screw rappers, how about another pair of musical artists?

You can’t. 

The hype surrounding “Watch the Throne” revolved around that exact concept. In Jay-Z, you have the reigning king of all things rap — an artist whose collection of work has driven us to the point of where you must consider him as one of the most influential artists (not just rappers) of all time. And in Kanye West, you have a musical genius whose skill and talent make it impossible for you to hate or ignore him no matter how much you despise his arrogance. 

Their status atop the music food chain alone made “Watch The Throne” one of the most anticipated tours in music — perhaps, ever. And it’s for that reason that you can’t evaluate their concert as merely two hours of hip-hop. Because, if you’re a fan of the genre, you’ve asked yourself on more than one occasion, ‘what would happen if?’ 

Well, we now have our answer. 

Matt says that a second batch of photos are coming — and I’m telling you they’re worth the bit of the wait. So much of photography is getting lucky with the timing. Let’s say, we got super lucky with the timing (and the lighting). Here’s a couple. Click on it and it’ll take you to Visuals By Method’s Facebook fan page. Once there, you have to LIKE it. Because you do.

You can also visit Matt’s Blog … definitely worth a look. Promise.

I’ll be curious to see how people feel about the review. Hmm. OK. Until next time (Saturday).