Thank you for your interest in visual editing for The Borgen Project! We are delighted at the possibility of having you join the fight to alleviate global poverty. The following test is meant to ensure that you have the skills necessary to be a valuable contributor to our content team.
The primary duty for those serving as Visual Editor Interns is to find appealing images for articles published on The Borgen Project’s Blog and Magazine. In order to maintain a consistent style, all visual editing is done using Pixlr and Webresizer OR any programs you may personally own (ex. Photoshop, Lightroom, Apple Photos). The objective of this test is to determine if you have an eye for finding and editing unique and appropriate images.
THE TEST
- Find two photos to go with two articles.
• The first article is called “Syrian Refugees Take Toll on Lebanese Schools”
• The second article is called “The Hippo Roller Changes Lives”
• The first article will appear on the Borgen Magazine and the second will appear on the blog. - Properly name, size and edit the photos.
- Email your two photos back to your hiring manager.
PHOTO EDITING INSTRUCTIONS
BLOG IMAGES
1. Resized
Blog Photos should be 530 pixels wide x 300-530 pixels high.
Magazine Photos should be 1078 pixels wide x 516 pixels high.
Please use webresizer.com or any other photo editor you own to resize images. This is a simple tool for keeping images the same width and height, while decreasing the file size. Large images files are slow to load and, beyond annoying to potential readers, hurt our search engine ranking. Google does not like to send people to slow pages.
2. Renamed
To help the chances of people finding your article when searching images, rename your photo with the SEO key term of the article. For the purposes of this test, the key terms are “Lebanese Schools” and “Hippo Roller.” For example, if the image above was called “12244355.jpg.” When downloading it, you could save it as “England Tsunami.jpg,” assuming that is the SEO key term. That will increase the likelihood of the image being discovered when people search for those terms.
3. Styled (OPTIONAL – Blog Only)
Please feel free to use any photo editing software you own or use the free online editor Pixlr to further enhance the photo. Pixlr is a free online program is available through your browser.
If you choose to style images please follow these 3 guidelines:
• DO NOT add borders
• Add filters (UNLESS they add grain, noise, or blurriness)
• Make sure images are clear, bright, and clean.
MAGAZINE IMAGES
1. Resized. Use webresizer.com. Magazine photos are 1078 x 516pixels.
2. Renamed. The same SEO standards for the Blog. See above.
** Magazine Photos are not to be Stylized **
Tips for Finding Images
As a nonprofit we can use just about anything you find, as long the photo source is cited and as long as the photo is not privately owned.
1. Google Image Search
2. Find creative, interesting, and fun images (if appropriate) – try to steer clear of photos showing excessive poverty unless it’s necessary. Use your best judgement and choose photos that make the greatest impact.
3. Use an image from one of the article’s sources
4. Flickr.com allows you to search images that users have made available.
HOW TO RESIZE IMAGES
1. Visit http://webresizer.com/resizer/
2. Upload and resize the image according to the blog or magazine specifications. Make sure to crop the image’s height to the publication standard (300-530) pixels for the blog, 516 for the magazine).
3. Save it with the SEO key term of the article the photo is for, such as “poverty_in_Afghanistan.jpg”
Photo Dimensions
The image above is 530 pixels × 300 pixels. It has been formatted and resized; it is a good fit for the blog.
The image above is 1078 pixels x 516 pixels. It is perfect for the magazine.
You can alter the size on webresizer.com by manually inserting the correct pixel sizes in the boxes seen below:
PHOTO STYLE POINTERS:
Photo style is very important to us. Try to seek out interesting and compelling images. We keep photos as clear and crisp as possible and the most effective photos are the ones that don’t have a lot going on in them. Photos with too much going on are hard to focus on and tend to get looked over. Try to stray from what’s known as “poverty porn”—images intended to make readers sympathize with the poor without actually living in their shoes. Why? Because it’s been done before, and we want our publication to be different.
When you are finished:
• Attach your 2 edited photos
• Email them back to your hiring manager.