project details ─

The Point is a Biola University campus magazine for students, produced by students. The Point exists to enrich Biola's campus by diving deeply into people's stories and exploring issues at the intersection of student life and faith. Each issue of The Point builds on a growing campus legacy that has, from the beginning, involved breaking molds and exceeding expectations. The Point has gained a reputation for being unafraid to tackle any topic and for bringing a unique perspective to campus conversations, as we aim for a truthful, thought-provoking and artful publication.

The theme for the Spring 2018 issue was justice and mercy. Justice is hard to maintain because so often it is based in a human understanding of it, which may be driven by personal ambitions, perspectives and beliefs, some on course and some off course with the truth. Yet shining through are certain undeniable things about justice, which are often spotlighted by its converse: injustice. Injustices show us that what we are looking for is justice, or for something to be made right. Justice, what is fair, may be hard to pinpoint in the flawed state in which we exist, but it is there and worth our time in pursuing. Mercy is perhaps a little easier to explain, yet also rare. Mercy is extending kindness to someone when you could instead harm them. And that is why this particular issue focuses on these two particular words and concepts because they matter. In a world full of injustices and cruelties, these virtues are the beauties with which to answer them.

For the Spring 2018 issue, I worked in three different story teams for articles about the drought in Cape Town, the foster care system, and art that depicts justice and mercy amidst suffering. To contrast our previous semester's bright style, we employed harsher brush strokes and a black/white (with a green accent) color palette to hone in on the depth and more serious tone of our stories, as well as the overarching theme of justice and mercy.