(First day of the workshop, at Blic newsroom in Belgrade – photo by Oliver Bunić/Blic)
I had the honor to spend the last two days of this week conducting a very exciting two-day workshop in Belgrade, Serbia, working together with the talented teams from the newspapers Blic and Alo! and from the magazines НИН and Blic Žena, making a step further in visual journalism.
On the first day we did an overview, passing through visual storytelling, infographics and typography, analysing examples, theories and processes.
Since I believe that one of the most important instrument, when its about visual storytelling, is the use of cognitive psychology, we analysed how it can work as a wise tool to engage readers, generating emotional reactions, and improving the understanding of stories.
On the second day, with the heads of departments, we focused on the daily Blic and on its Saturday edition. I made a analysis of both products, taking a deep look at how it presented news. We had an entire morning discussion with the team and identified important points and estimated the next steps that will help the development of both publications.
I leave Serbia inspired by a newspaper with an amazing potential and a brilliant team led by Jelena Drakulic (CEO), who has always impressed me by her unique approach on the publications in Serbia, and her talented Visual Director, Slobodan Pikula.
(Newspaper analysis, on the second day of the workshop)