Arts Entertainment

Top illustrations of 2022

Here are the images that helped illuminate important stories of 2022 at the Deseret News

By Michelle Budge

Many big stories and important ideas were written about in 2022.

Our editorial team takes these fascinating topics that are more conceptual—maybe they don’t have an event or a person to photograph—and creates accompanying art that helps illustrate the story and helps them be discoverable in all kinds of venues.

In conceptualizing the illustrations for each story, we combine ideas in a new way so that when the illustration accompanies the headline, it creates a new idea—and hopefully an a-ha—in the reader’s mind.

For example, the shape of the country becomes the bargaining table in a story about political tensions in Taiwan. A vacuum is the center of an eyeball for a story on Big Tech watching us. Movement conveys the skyrocketing speed of gas prices.

Each one of these illustrations configures familiar images in new ways to convey the big ideas happening in each story. From prayer to inflation to culture to war, these are the year’s best illustrations.

Why Taiwan matters
Why a small island is at the heart of U.S.-China tensions

The walls (and the vacuums) have eyes! How Big Tech watches us
Big Tech’s concerning surveillance capabilities grow amid iRobot buyout

Perspective: The most outlandish analogies in the 303 Creative case
From baristas refusing to serve Latter-day Saints coffee drinks to children in KKK outfits visiting mall Santas, hypotheticals were bizarre this week.

Perspective: Who’s really responsible for our pain at the pump?
Nixon and Carter couldn’t shed all the blame for the energy crisis of the 1970s. Biden likely can’t either

Interfaith work is moving beyond dialogue and entering ... the climate scene?
‘While we have beautiful differences, there’s a lot of things we share about how we want the world.’

Perspective: Why academia is a breeding ground of cancel culture
Professors in certain disciplines believe they have a ‘moral mission.’ It’s no surprise they’re evangelizing their students

Rising Danger
Avalanches are tough to understand. Climate change makes it tougher

Why bringing faith home beats just going to church
“A Not-So-Good-Faith-Estimate” from Wheatley Institute finds attending services combined with religious practices at home bring robust benefits

Most Americans pray for their co-workers. But the company? Not so much
A new survey report from Deseret News and The Marist Poll focuses on the relationship between religion and business

How the golden rule brings Americans together
New research shows that a tremendous majority of Americans agree that it’s necessary to follow the golden rule

Political violence and threats are on the rise. Who’s to blame?
Research from Pew might convince us to look in the mirror instead of at our political foes

Perspective: The latest crisis in mental health is a lack of providers. But you can be part of the solution
Professionals are important when people are struggling, but so are family, friends and communities

Not just a man’s disease: Making a place for women with hemophilia
Writer Jennifer DeGlopper has a rare condition that inhibits blood clotting and shares her story to advocate for women with hemophilia

How Crumbl won the great Utah cookie war and expanded an empire of sugar
That’s the way the cookie Crumbls

The underdiscussed upsides of screen time for kids
Rather than focus on how much time children spend on their phones, parents should try to understand how they engage with them, experts say

Are fast-food restaurants ready to fully automate? McDonald’s says no
Artificial intelligence software already exists for self-serve options, inventory, scheduling and marketing. Now, these fast-food chains are looking to add robots to the mix

Perspective: Why women are increasingly politically homeless
We need a reckoning on the left and the right

Using hope to steer away from danger
Suicide, child abuse, substance use and mental illness are among the issues being rebranded in hopes of saving lives

Religious school must recognize LGBTQ rights club after Supreme Court ruling
Yeshiva University has said that recognizing YU Pride Alliance would violate its religious values

Military recruitment numbers are down. Are ‘woke’ politics to blame?
The Army, Air Force and Navy have struggled to meet their goals this year, while some conservatives say the military has turned its back on its largest pool of recruits

Perspective: America is barreling toward a child care cliff
Without federal assistance, quality child care may become a luxury good as COVID-19 aid expires

When are attacks on churches classified as hate crimes?
Both local and federal authorities are considering hate crimes charges against the man who attacked a California church on May 15

Are school prayer rules about to change?
During oral arguments Monday, the Supreme Court wrestled with what a football coach’s prayers meant to his players

Why religious schools just won big — again — in front of the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has once again ruled in favor of religious schools seeking public education money

The strangest 2024 presidential candidates you’ve never heard of
Many of us fit the qualifications for president, but these candidates are crazy enough to run, again and again

Perspective: America needs prime-age men to be working
Too many young men have stopped looking for work and instead rely on family and government benefits. This trend is troubling for the nation’s economy and birthrates, as well as the men themselves

The under-discussed middle ground in the abortion debate
Pew Research Center’s latest abortion survey shows that labels like ‘pro-life’ and ‘pro-choice’ don’t capture Americans’ mixed feelings about abortion rights

Perspective: The culture war isn’t solving any of our problems
We need a ‘coalition of the decent’ to lower the temperature and advance real solutions