illustration, editorial design
THE CHALLENGE
Tasked with creating a newspaper entirely based on the persona of Erin Brockovich (née Pattee), the Pattee Post integrates text from found articles on the web as well as 9 original images including both type and image.
THE APPROACH
The brief for the images was divided in sets of 3s: 3 images were to describe different parts of Erin’s life, 3 were to describe meaningful places in Erin’s life and 3 were to describe relevant sound and texture. Once the images were developed, they were integrated with the correlated reference articles in custom news spreads.
Based on a modified broadsheet newspaper layout, each spread follows a strict grid system with carefully typeset articles in Times. Text has been carefully aligned around related key images in order to establish readability and hierarchy.
THE RESULTS
The experience of intentional visual design is equally as important as comprehending published content. Each spread increasingly includes redacted text for the reader to experience a similar obstacle course that Erin faced in her research and case-building perseverance.
The temporal nature of the medium (newsprint) reminds the viewer how easy it is to overlook something that’s not considered culturally precious—and how thankless work such as activism can be faced with similar attitudes.
Personal project (typographic, illustration and editorial exploration)
About Erin Brockovich:
Erin Brockovich was a critical legal team member on the Hinkley, CA case, earning the residents a win and later inspiring a biopic. While her dedication to her work frequently had her on the road, Erin never apologized for her actions, believing that she was working towards helping people. It meant that she lost a relationship with her partner and put distance between her and her children, but her success from her tenacity in her consumer advocacy efforts shines through in the lives of those she has fought for. While she garnered fame through the 1999 self-titled movie starring Julia Roberts, Erin continues her consumer advocacy efforts across America, fighting for the same justice she won for the Hinkley residents featured in the film.