HELLO, I'M
Kiara Benoit.
Design and Graphics
Kiara Benoit
Design Staffer on
The Muse
Palm Beach County, Florida
(561)-356-5871
About Me
Kiara Benoit is a first-year staffer and design staffer on The Muse. She loves learning about astronomy, eating dessert, and listening to Bob Marley. Some of her hobbies include reading, writing, painting, and playing volleyball. Kiara looks forward to working with her fellow staffers and contributing to The Muse this year.
My Personal Narrative
I'll admit that in the past, I had a certain fear towards publications. Throughout elementary and middle school, many of my peers were involved in the yearbook or newspaper staffs, and no matter how much they tried convincing me to join, I feared that it would be too much of a commitment. Little did I know that the commitment really is worth it.
I remember sitting at my Dreyfoos audition, nervous. I was in one of the classrooms, waiting for my name to be called. As I sat there, wondering what life as a student here could possibly be like, a teacher came around and passed out the school magazines to us. On the cover of the magazine was The Muse. Enraptured, I flipped through the pages and was instantly amazed by just how much detail was put into it- the photos were beautiful, the writing was strong, and the layout was eye-catching. It was at that moment, holding the magazine in my hands, that I knew I wanted to be a part of the creation.
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Needless to say, I made it to Dreyfoos. In my sophomore year, I joined the Muse staff as a designer. I knew from the beginning that this was the area I was interested in- growing up, I had always loved drawing, painting, and crafting. Although I was excited to bring my designing skills to the staff, there were of course some challenges. Having never been on a publication prior, I was not prepared for the amount of work it was. Since teamwork was such an important aspect, I had to make sure to get all my work done in time in order to not let the other people i was working with down. It took some time figuring out the schedule that worked for me, where I could not only meet my deadlines but also make it my best job. However, once I had finally gotten into the right pattern, I started to truly enjoy designing. Even after only a few months, I have already learned so much about not just design but journalism as a whole. I am extremely honored that I get the chance to work with some of the most talented people ever!
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Design
Recognizing the Rise is one of the first spreads I created on The Muse and one of my favorites. I'm especially a fan of the wave graphic at the bottom of the spread- I feel like it adds that final touch to pull the whole story together. I completed this design by first drawing the wave on procreate, and then adding in all of the other elements on InDesign to fit the same style.
Like Recognizing the Rise, Game Changer was also a part of Issue 1. I decided to include this page because of how simple yet effective it is. I had not included any graphics for this one, and there isn't any wild typography, but it's still appealing. Although the design is pretty straight-forward, I did face a bit of challenge trying to decide upon the right color scheme, and I think green was the right choice because it adds a sleek look to the page.
Arts After Dark is part of Issue 2. I really love the simplicity of this spread- it allows the beautiful photos to stand out (credit to the amazing photographer!). This spread was initially a bit more challenging to design because I couldn't quite figure out the right layout- I didn't want to make it look too busy or too plain. In the end, I chose to go with a dark background and bold, white text- I feel like these elements help bring your eyes to the photos.
Wasteland, another part of Issue 2, was probably the spread where I faced the most design challenges. First, I had to rearrange everything on the spread multiple times in order to find the best layout. I also had an issue with the text placement because the story would go off the page, and at other times, I would be left with half a page blank. Although I had to create many new versions and spent a long time trying to perfect it as much as possible, in the end, the spread turned out well.
Odd Jobs was part of Issue 3. This is one of my favorite spreads I've made this year due to the amount of creative liberty I got to take. I was able to read about each interviewee and create backgrounds for them based on their interests, and it was so much fun being able to try out different designs for each person. I have been trying to develop my skills in graphics, so working on this particular spread taught me a lot of new tips and tricks with procreate.
Up In Smoke was the cover story of Issue 3. This was a really big story for me to work on, seeing that the topic was so serious. I had to do a lot of planning in regards to how I was going to incorporate all the photos, statistics, and quotes into the 5 pages given so that everything would fit together and create a simple, informational look. One of the biggest challenges I faced was with the background, because I wanted to have the smoke theme carry throughout the spreads, but had some trouble trying to create said smoke- I solved this issue, however, by testing out different mediums until I found the right method.
The Summer Balance is going to be a part of Issue 4. Although the story isn't finalized yet, I included this design because I'm a big fan of the graphics I made for it. Since I've been trying to experiment more with graphics, I'm really satisfied with the work I was able to create. One challenge I initially faced was the lack of space- since the story was cut from two pages to one, I had to redesign the page and create a whole new layout. However, I think I managed quite well with the change.
Senior Advice is also going to be a part of Issue 4. I really like this page because I've never done a design like this, where it was solely based on the graphics and layout rather than body copy or photos. I had a lot of fun choosing different shapes and colors for the page, and although tracing every person's handwriting was definitely time consuming, I think it was a wonderful idea because it shows a variety of different characters and personalities.