Megan Sauer

I have a Bachelor’s degree in English from Adrian College and a master in science of journalism from Medill at Northwestern University. …

Born an extravert, I learned at a young age my friends and family had better things to do than listen to me talk all day — so, I turned to writing. When I’m not on deadline, I’m skating, watching The Office or typing incoherent ideas into my note’s app when I’m half asleep.

Since graduating from Medill, I feel privileged (and almost burdened) with the freedom to write about whatever I want (can’t my niche be… everything?) I have reported on education, Congress, Olympians and more. I aspire to become a magazine editor and to work in an office surrounded by windows, passionate people and an endless supply of red pens.

I balanced my day job with personal creative work, like collage and woodblock printing, which garnered attention from a few indie publishers. Eventually, I got offers from more established magazines, so I decided to design for Showcase on a freelance basis. This allowed me to work on other cool projects, from emerging brands to current events.

My creative approach—no matter the medium—is to find points of tension behind the idea I’ve been assigned or am interested in. I do several iterations on each point and usually end up refining the one I find most controversial.

For me, controversy isn’t about instigation, but rather, a way to arrest your audience. It’s a way to plant a little bit of desire in their hearts; a yearning to turn the page and learn more about your idea. Ultimately, it’s about creating memorable images.