Why I Vote
Election Day, November 6, 2012
Emmet Smith, designer; Allison Carey, photographer
In typical newspaper fashion, we like to be super-neutral on Election day. But not-so-typically, we don’t like to simply use boring two equal pictures of inactive candidates on A1 like so many papers do. (We saved that for the Metro front!)
So this year, we asked readers to finish this phrase: I vote because …
The ground rules were simple enough … we don’t care who you’re voting for, we just care why you vote. The notion is to motivate others to participate in this great experiment called democracy.
Here, 33 Northeast Ohio residents answer in print. Go here to see more on video.
And remember to answer it yourself on Facebook or Twitter by using #whyIvote with your response. We’ll be keeping an eye on those, too.
copyright 2012
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Sad note for you PD design watchers … this page, along with tonight’s election front, marks Emmet Smith’s last hurrah as a designer. Needless to say, his body of work has been nothing short of remarkable over the nine years we’ve been lucky enough to have him on our team.
It’s also a sure thing that he’ll kick serious tail as The PD’s new rock music critic.
Thanks for everything, E. You truly rock!
If you don’t like what you’re doing, then don’t do it.
Ray Bradbury, rest in peace.
(via @michaelhayes)
(Source: theatlantic)
A Cleveland landmark at 100
Special Section published May 27, 2012
Emmet Smith, designer; Joshua Gunter, cover photograph
The cover of a twelve-page special section on the centennial of Cleveland’s iconic West Side Market. Josh built the composite image from 11 photographs taken over a 24-hour period (detail above). Notice that the time on the clock faces differs.
See a time lapse of the pictures that formed the cover here.
See the other pages of the section here.
Read the stories here.
See a clip from the documentary “Savor: 100 years of the West Side Market” here. The documentary was produced by The Plain Dealer, in partnership with WVIZ/PBS ideastream. Dale Omori produced and directed the film.copyright 2012
Inside the West Side Market
Special Section published May 27, 2012
Emmet Smith, designer; Joshua Gunter, cover and non-historical photographs;
James Owens, graphic; Debbi Snook, reporter; Scott Sheldon, graphics editorThe inside pages of the twelve-page section commemorating the 100th birthday of a Cleveland treasure: The West Side Market. The actual opening of the Market was on Nov. 2, 1912, but the City kicks off the celebration on June 4; hence the timing of the publication.
See the cover here.
Read the stories here.
See a clip from the documentary “Savor: 100 years of the West Side Market” here. The documentary was produced by The Plain Dealer, in partnership with WVIZ/PBS ideastream. Dale Omori produced and directed the film.copyright 2012
Prediction or jinx?
Sports, May 22, 2012
Emmet Smith, designer
Columnist Bill Livingston makes the case that the 2012 Indians are good enough to make the playoffs. Last year, after we published a positive piece at about this point in the season, the team began their swoon. After this ran, they swept the Tigers. A sign that Livvy’s right, or just a coincidence? Hmmmmmm.
Read Livingston’s column here.
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Nick Hanauer, a venture capitalist whose TED talk about inequality was deemed “too political controversial” to publish. (via theatlantic)It is astounding how significantly one idea can shape a society and its policies. Consider this one.
If taxes on the rich go up, job creation will go down.
This idea is an article of faith for Republicans and seldom challenged by Democrats and has shaped much of today’s economic landscape.
But sometimes the ideas that we know to be true are dead wrong. For thousands of years people were sure that earth was at the center of the universe. It’s not, and an astronomer who still believed that it was, would do some lousy astronomy.
In the same way, a policy maker who believed that the rich and businesses are “job creators” and therefore should not be taxed, would make equally bad policy.
I have started or helped start, dozens of businesses and initially hired lots of people. But if no one could have afforded to buy what we had to sell, my businesses would all have failed and all those jobs would have evaporated.
That’s why I can say with confidence that rich people don’t create jobs, nor do businesses, large or small. What does lead to more employment is a “circle of life” like feedback loop between customers and businesses. And only consumers can set in motion this virtuous cycle of increasing demand and hiring. In this sense, an ordinary middle-class consumer is far more of a job creator than a capitalist like me.
(via theatlantic)
Bike Messengers Fight to Take Back Europe’s Most Congested City
Brussels Express, a documentary by Sander Vandenbroucke, looks at how commuters and messengers can make a dent in the city’s overwhelming traffic.
(via theatlantic)
Kyrie Irving, Rookie of the Year
Sports, May 15, 2012
Emmet Smith, designer
Cavs have their Rookie of the Year, and we have our MVP in Emmet Smith. He used mostly staff photography, but the cover photo is by Todd Rosenberg, Sports Illustrated via Getty, as we typically don’t get studio time to spend with Cleveland sports figures. The choice resonated enough to compel one reader to write:
A Sports Section with its front page loaded with class — that is what I see in today’s Plain Dealer. As I walked into the kitchen this morning, my husband was reading the paper as usual, the front page of the sports section was set at a diagonal and I could sort of see it from the kitchen counter. From where I was, the photo of Irving looked like a classic sculpture! The closer I got to it, I realized it was a photo of Irving.
The entire article layout is set up in fine classical form — inspired by Irving. I love it … yes, Irving, is a class-type man … what a breath of fresh air!
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