Choice Category: Design

Although I wasn't planning to dive into design when I joined Ka Leo at Sacred Hearts Academy, I realized the impact visuals make in storytelling. From page layouts to infographics, my work on these gave me a better understanding of how intrigue can attract writers to view my content. For instance, with my article “Folding Love into Every Roll”, I felt like something colorful would add to the article and make it more appealing to viewers. Hence, through working with staff reporter Nikki Kaahanui, she illustrated the bakery's most popular item, Spanish rolls! From there, I designed the infographic and added information such as a description of Spanish rolls, the number of Spanish rolls made a day, and other popular items made in the bakery. Through this project, I noticed the importance of using visuals to bring stories to life, turning my piece into an exciting, visually appealing, and well-rounded article.

"Lancers gear up for inaugural girls flag football season"

For the 2025 Hawai'i State High School Journalism Awards, Bailey Leong and I designed a sports single issue focused on two articles: “Lancers gear up for inaugural girls flag football season,” written by Mahina Monsarrat-Ohelo, and “Paddling through the finish line; Academy seniors race toward graduation,” written by Joy Gora-Aina. For this single issue, I decided to use eye-catching “cut-out” images in order to emphasize action. We arranged the text to make it as easy to read as possible, but on our end, it was quite hard to arrange it because of the template, so we had to take a lot of time making sure the layout of the single issue had a great flow. From designing this single issue, I honed my ability to arrange text and visuals with intention, creating a layout that highlights action while maintaining readability and flow.

"B.I.O.N.I.C Lancers show they care"

To enter the 2023 Hawai'i State High School Journalism Awards, I created a layout on the B.I.O.N.I.C. Lancers, a team of Sacred Hearts Academy students that reaches out to peers who might be facing challenging times. It dives into the impact they make around campus, while following testimonies from students who were helped by them. To highlight the impact they made, I emphasized the quote “B.I.O.N.I.C Lancers really help everyone get closer to each other and to get away from all the stress”, which was said by Miki Cheung, a new student at the time who came from Macau, China, who felt the B.I.O.N.I.C Lancers welcomed her and made her feel at home. Designing this layout taught me the importance of meaningful placement of visuals as well as text, and how they can highlight personal stories that heighten your story.

"Folding Love into Every Roll" Infographic

“Folding Love into Every Roll" was a feature piece I wrote on a local Filipino family bakery, Nanding’s Bakery, and focuses on Cassandra Morete, one of the family members, as she works at the bakery and attends school at Sacred Hearts Academy. While I was writing the article, I felt like something was missing; I wanted to add more data into the piece, and visuals without it looking out of place. When discussing my issue with Mrs. Alyssa Myers, the advisor and teacher of journalism at Sacred Hearts Academy, she recommended that I do an infographic. After talking with her, I talked to Nikki Kaahanui, who agreed to do an illustration of the most popular bakery item, the Spanish roll! From there, I collected data from Morete and created the infographic. Making this infographic showed me another way to write content and data into a fun, appealing addition to any article.

Click on the infographic above to learn more!

"You're not getting enough protein. Here's how to fix that!" Infographic

More recently, I made an infographic on the importance of protein for my article “You’re not getting enough protein. Here’s how to fix that!” The article itself breaks down the scientific reasoning behind the importance of protein and provides accessible ways for people to get the recommended amount of protein every day. The infographic included a description of protein, the telltale signs of protein deficiency, commonly found proteins, and vegan protein options as well. By using a colorful template and illustrations of steak, egg, and fish, I gave a more enticing way to ingest the information.

Bonus: Web and Social Media →