My rich background in design stems from a habit of attention to detail and a solid foundation in design principles taught by my adviser in her Intro to Journalism course my freshman year. Since then, I've directly applied it in my own work by independently designing my own photo spreads as well as extensively partnering with staffers in planning the design off of my photos or shooting the photos off their design concept.
Splashing Records (Panorama, February 2024)
The following four artifacts of newsmagazine spreads are entirely mine: reporting, photos, writing, editing and design (InDesign). For this one, I treated it like a mini-package, not a collage. I built hierarchy with the dominant portrait, then supported it with sequenced action/detail shots and captions for all of them, that way the visuals carry information, not just energy. I used consistent spacing and alignment to keep it readable and I added a “Season Recap” mod with key stats to give readers a fast takeaway beyond what the photos alone can show.
Quill & Scroll WVM 2025: First Place Sports Spread Design
See Photojournalism
Full Throttle (Panorama, January 2025)
I designed this as a modern, audience-aware photo story, with strong visual hierarchy, modular layout and captions that do more than label. The most “design-forward” decision I’d say was integrating a QR code to the student’s TikTok, a deliberate bridge between our publication and the community we interact with. Because I also reported and wrote the piece, the design choices were both aesthetic and editorial. The photos provide a visual for readers and the copy advances narrative and context, all in one clean, navigable, easy-to-read spread.
NSPA Fall 2025 Best of Show: Second Place Spread Design
Kick it Up (Panorama Money Issue, March 2024)
This spread blends studio portraits with design discipline. I staged a shoot with a staff member’s shoe collection, then built the page around one clean full-spread main image supported by smaller mods. The main photo required illustration work (properly cited) to extend a white background, but the goal was editorial polish — keeping attention on the subject and the shoes, not the distracting part of the studio. The layout pairs strong negative space with intentional mods so the reader’s eye moves naturally: hook with the dominant, the learn the story through supporting visuals and concise copy.
No awards
Eclipse It (Panorama, April 2024)
Remember that one solar eclipse? Ah, that's right. This was one of my more nationally/globally relevant photo stories that still had relevance to the Ladue community. Once again completely reported, shot, edited and designed by me, the solar eclipse allowed me to blend creativity with reportage. Everything designed has a purpose: headline pun meant to be memorable in a fun story ("clip it" meaning to capture it), photo illustration and its captions meant to educate, not indoctrinate (QR code encouraging more learning), documentary photos meant to show the school turnout and a "scan" cutout image of the glasses to showcase its design and serve as a historical relic.
No awards
Lots of planning went into this spread. I purchased a special filter that would allow my super-telephoto lens to project the sun into my camera without frying it or overexposing the shot. This coverage mirrors how the pros would do it: not only journalistic photos of emotion and reaction, but documenting the sun's event itself.
I documented school staff as well. The photos were edited to maintain the partial eclipse's eerie dim effect on the midday sunlight as seen by the eye.
The setup: older, bought-used and filtered Nikon telephoto lens paired with my beginner Nikon mirrorless camera I had purchased in eighth grade.
Best Bites (Panorama, November 2023)
In collaboration with Celina Zhou
Although Celina Zhou has the spread design byline, this page was a true collaboration: I shot the full-spread photo that is the page. We planned the image with layout in mind, selecting a clean background, controlled lighting and intentional framing so her review blurbs could sit legibly without fighting the photo. The even tones, clear negative space and visual aesthetic of the cookie platter help guide the reader through the content.
MIJA JDay 2024: Best of Show Double Truck/Centerspread Page Design
Story and spread design by Celina Zhou. Photo by Vincent Hsiao.
Food Issue Covers (Panorama, October 2023)
In collaboration with Mimi Zhou
This cover was a deliberate photo-design collaboration with former EIC Mimi Zhou: we arranged food into a rectangular frame to create clean central space for type, and we left a white plate in the top-left specifically to anchor the “Pano” logo. I lit the studio set with two strobes for even, magazine-style light and minimal shadows, that way the cover feels intentional and professional, not just any casual shot. Though Mimi handled final InDesign placement, the photo was created for the layout, with typography needs driving the composition. The back cover achieves the same goal by leaving an empty middle space for the student poll graphic. Art could have easily been done in place of these photos but we enjoyed going the extra mile. This was the first of many covers I have shot or contributed to for Panorama, ID and Rambler.
NSPA Fall 2024 Best of Show: Fourth Place Newsmagazine Cover Design
NSPA Fall 2023 Clips & Clicks: Second Place Cover Design
Behind-the-scenes snapshot of Mimi arranging food products. I have fond memories of this shoot, climbing up on the ladder to ensure the frame had compression to add to the professional look.
October 18, 2023. Photo by Frank Chen.
Student Life Passions Booklet (Rambler 2025)
In collaboration with Mariana Copeland, Rambler staff
Compared with the dozens of Pano and ID shoots I've done, I've only gotten to creatively collaborate with the yearbook staff a handful of times, all of them being highly successful. The idea that editor-in-chief Mariana brought to me was clear-cut: classy portraits of the students and staff they were featuring in the student life and sports interrupter booklets cleanly stitched into the yearbook. When I think of true teamwork, this was it: Mariana and her staff provided bold-colored backdrop paper, I had my professional lighting gear, composition and posing expertise, and the subjects brought their outfits or props. Without my portraiture, there wouldn't be a consistent theme or throughline between the subjects, who all had widely-varying passions or sports and thus different submitted photos. This wouldn't have come together so well if it weren't for the staff's help either.
MIJA JDay 2025: All Missouri Yearbook Specialty Design (staff award)
Ladue Basketball District Champions (unpublished, March 2023)
Created as a Page Design unit project in Intro to Journalism, this unpublished two-page spread let me reverse-engineer professional sports layouts and apply the rules deliberately in InDesign. I designed everything and photographed all images myself, focusing on hierarchy and a clear dominant element to guide the reader’s eye. I’m especially proud of the small cutout details that add depth — players breaking the frame and the championship plaque overlapping the headline for a subtle 3D effect. This project was where I truly learned how intentional spacing, layering and photo placement can make a spread feel alive instead of flat.
All photos by me.
Hsiao’s Take: Girl Scout Cookies (unpublished, March 2023)
This unpublished spread was a redesign exercise based on a prior staffer’s famous cookie review, with the expectation that everything be original: my own design decisions, my own layout “flare”, and my own written blurbs and rankings (no downloaded graphics). Using InDesign, I built a colorful, structured layout and used the line tool intentionally to spruce up the background. I also practiced precision cutouts (cookies and my headshot byline) and learned how typography choices can make short review copy feel readable, consistent and punchy. Even though a classmate shot the cookie photos, the design work taught me how to control visual balance and cohesion within a spread.
Photos by Ishaan Pandey.
About Me Page (unpublished, February 2023)
Also unpublished, this page was my first real test of modular layout. Clean, rectangular mods, consistent margins, two font families, legible type and deliberate pica-spacing so nothing felt overly cramped or random. In InDesign, I did the full page myself and pushed hardest on the gear collage — cutting out a large set of all my camera/lighting gear and using text wrap to label them cleanly. That time-consuming cutout work was worth it because it taught me patience and precision.
Instagram Carousels (continued)
These social-first Canva projects, mostly collages I designed from scratch — often duplicating an older original "template/master" project to maintain consistency — with fundamental design principles in mind, especially spacing, sequencing and visual hierarchy. On many, I edited with intentional variety with athletes so each slide adds new information instead of repeating the same frame. Ones with numbering on each photo are for caption/naming purposes on the post. I spent significant effort and care on nearly all of these, ensuring I was fully content and confident with how it would be posted. All photos by me.
This one was an end slide to a regular carousel post in order to include the side graphic on the right.
Vincent Edward H. LLC Prom Promo Handout (April 2025)
This piece demonstrates practical layout design for a real audience in a real environment: a busy and crowded dance. Also from scratch, I designed a one-page mini handout that students and parents could understand in seconds: a clear headline, minimal copy and an emphasis on the QR code. The handout also communicated package options and discounts with marketing in mind.
Copyrighted art used under Canva licensing.
Canva behind the scenes
I set down the handouts before the event started.
Ladue School District Communications Social Graphics (2025)
These three graphics show my ability to work inside an institutional brand while still making intentional design choices. I created them while mirroring the communications team’s real workflow in Canva, while also avoiding overreliance on templates so each post feels genuine. I made sure each had a consistent hierarchy, readable typography and a professional look representing the district. I was also able to use my own photo from a couple years ago of the first day of school for the school bus safety week graphic.
Diwali illustrative photo used under licensing by Canva.
Copyrighted photos used under Canva licensing.
"Vote for Hsiao" NHS Campaign Poster (May 2025)
This poster highlights my ability to design a persuasive, student-facing piece with clean hierarchy and strong visual emphasis. I built it in Canva using a cutout of a high-quality studio self-portrait of me and my twin as the anchor, a topographic-like background shape (used under Canva licensing), then structured the typography for readability at a distance: simple message, bold call to action, and minimal clutter. The idea was instantly communicating our campaign message confidently on posters throughout the school.
Vincent Edward H. LLC Website
Using a SmugMug template as the base, I customized my site’s layout to feel like a clean, visual portfolio first and a sales platform second. I organized galleries so visitors can browse quickly without getting lost, kept the navigation simple and used consistent typography and spacing so the photos stay dominant. I designed the homepage to function like a curated “front page”: recent work is placed first, while deeper “archive” categories are still a click away. The result is a site that looks professional, loads the visitor into my work fast and makes it easy for classmates, families and community members to find and share my coverage.
Behind-the-scenes look of SmugMug site editor. Click on image to view my site
For additional artifacts on my design skills, see Editing, Leadership and Team Building for a camera settings guide made in InDesign and Resume & About for my resume made in InDesign.