He is More Than a Designer. He is My Hero.

WWRRD—What Would Ron Reason Do?

Although the phrase may seem sacreligious, it has become the motto of the Crimson’s design board, which I chair together with the lovely Hayley Bay Barna.

Last fall, The Crimson hired Ron Reason, a media design consultant with Garcia Media, Inc., to redesign the entire paper in preparation for the transition from black and white to color—or, BW to CMYK. But Ron left The Crimson with more than just a new style—he spread the Gospel of Visual Thinking.

It is not uncommon to hear FM executives discuss cover design in terms of “simple ideas” or news reporters talk about tomorrow’s “dude story.” These are only a few of the tools that Ron gave us to make our content more accessible to you, our devoted readers.

“Give your readers some eye candy,” Ron once advised me. Sometimes, I hear those words echo through my dreams—sweet dreams of glance boxes and maestro sessions that last late into the night. To me, Ron is more than just a design consultant—he is my hero!