Rocky’s self-made conditioning and training, using what little resources he had, makes this classic underdog story so captivating, a stark contrast to Creed’s resources and elaborate routine and entourage. I aimed to highlight Rocky’s unwavering dedication and journey from humble beginnings to current stature.

Toward the end of the project, each visual, header, and piece of text felt like a puzzle piece. I had everything that I needed, and I just needed to figure out how to click them into place. My poster was honored with an award, and was published in an annual student works magazine.

“All I wanna do is go the distance”

I didn’t watch Rocky until I was a young adult (Gen Z), but once I did, I was hooked. What really stuck with me wasn’t just the classic underdog story, but Rocky’s mindset—he wasn’t training to beat Apollo Creed; he was training to go the distance. In life, we don’t always win, but we can always push ourselves to be better.

When I set out to design this poster, I wanted to highlight that scrappy, no-frills training—pounding the pavement, chugging raw eggs, and punching meat in a freezer—versus Creed’s high-end gyms and entourage. That raw, relentless determination is what makes Rocky so easy to root for—and what makes his story timeless.

Use a grid. Watch your rag, leading, and whitespace. Establish a clear hierarchy. Stick to workhorse fonts. Mind your widows and orphans (yes, that’s a thing). And by all that is good—if you use Comic Sans…

These are the golden rules of typography. And I followed them—at first.

This article starts on a structured grid, left-aligned, clean, and orderly. But as the story unfolds—following a young man whose life takes one wrong turn after another—the typography begins to unravel. Text blocks shift off-center, rags grow jagged, and overlapping elements create a sense of instability. The composition visually mirrors the protagonist’s descent, transforming the reading experience into something dynamic and immersive.

With this project, I enjoyed playing by the rules—then breaking them, one by one.

I went into this project thinking typesetting an already typeset online article would be mind-numbingly boring. But I ended up learning a ton—and even had fun with it.

I saw firsthand how the right font choice can make or break readability. InDesign and I became inseparable as I fine-tuned leading, kerning, and tracking. But my biggest takeaway? The smallest details—rags, spacing, even a single misaligned letter—can subtly disrupt the reading experience. Refining that level of precision didn’t just make the design better; it made me a better designer.

See Professor Bailey? I know how to cite MLA

Morenne, Benoit. “On the Trail of the Fentanyl King.” Wired, 9 March. 2023, wired.com/story/on-the-trail-of-the-fentanyl-king/. Accessed 10 Nov. 2023.