Megan Larsen started at the Eagle Grove Eagle in March of 2022, as a designer. A graduate of Iowa Central Community College with a degree in Digital Mass Communications, Larsen graduated from Eagle Grove High School in the class of 2017.
Larsen immediately made her mark on the Eagle, bringing her distinctive flair and style to the paper’s layouts. And it wasn’t long before Larsen began taking on more responsibility, working on more projects for the Eagle’s publisher, Mid America Publishing, than just the Eagle Grove Eagle. Larsen worked on the design for the Wright County Visitor’s Guide of 2023, and is currently working on the 2024 edition. Larsen also took on the tasks of designing additional Mid America newspapers too.
Among those other papers is the Eldora Herald-Ledger. And at the Iowa Newspaper Association’s convention last Thursday, Larsen won one of the top honors in the industry – Best Total Newspaper Design in the Iowa Better Newspapers contest, for her work on the Herald-Ledger.
Larsen’s designs use a “wonderful mix of fonts and colors; excellent centerpieces; and well-rounded, easy-to-read ads,” wrote the judges, who added, “this is the complete package.”
“Megan is a very talented designer and this award is well deserved,” said Matt Grohe, Mid-America Publishing CEO.
Mike Hohenbrink, Editor of the Herald-Ledger, also praised Larsen’s work. “Megan is a solid designer with a repertoire of fantastic tricks,” said Hohenbrink. “Her use of color, her eye for just the right look really helped to give that extra touch. We are very pleased with this recognition of her great work.”
Of course, here at the Eagle, where Larsen designed her first newspaper, we have also come to expect the highest quality work from her. And are thrilled about her being honored for it, as well.
“It’s nice to be recognized for the work you do,” Larsen said, “and it’s an honor to win a top award against newspapers in the same class across the whole state of Iowa.”
The Iowa Better Newspapers Contest is held annually and administered by the Iowa Newspaper Association. This year’s awards are for 2023 entries, and were judged by panels of industry peers selected by and from the membership of the Illinois Press Association.
Roughly 2,900 contest entries were made in a variety of categories, and were judged based upon publication frequency and circulation. Newspapers published weekly with circulations of 755 or lower were judged in Class I. Newspapers published weekly with circulations between 756 and 1,260 were judged in Class II. Newspapers published weekly with circulations of 1261 and over were judged in Class III. Newspapers published more than weekly with circulations lower than 3,750 were judged in Class IV. Newspapers published more than weekly with circulations greater than 3,751 were judged in Class V.
A mid-sized weekly newspaper, the Eldora Herald Ledger was judged in Class II.
