Featured Projects
My work blends art direction, structural guidance, design, and photo editing to shape how a reader experiences a story—not just how it looks.
The projects shared here reflect deeply collaborative, multi-layered storytelling, developed through extensive iteration, experimentation, and refinement. Spanning a wide range of subjects and tones, from investigative reporting to lighter cultural stories, each project required careful editorial judgment about how visuals could best support, clarify, and respect the reporting.
Inside the Bin Laden Raid:
Visual storytelling for an oral history
Working within the constraints of our CMS, art directed an immersive visual system for a long-form oral history, using commissioned illustration, refined structural elements, and restrained photography to reflect the gravity and uncertainty of a historic raid.
I selected an illustrator whose work balanced likeness and concept, establishing the tone of the story with a tense, fragmented lead image. That visual language carried through the layout to maintain a consistent atmosphere, using pattern and color to immerse the reader. Chapter breaks served as visual pauses and orientation points, while simply styled headshots paired with quotes helped connect voices to faces. Photography was used sparingly, emphasizing the contrast between the composed public image of the White House against the gravity of the decisions unfolding behind the scenes.
Mining Alaska:
A long-form interactive investigation
Shaped a restrained, immersive visual experience for a story examining Alaska’s tension between preservation and progress.
In collaboration with a photo editor, interactive designer, and map illustrator, I built this story around large-format original photography, subtle video motion, and generous white space. A scrolling map grounded the geography, while asymmetrical photo grids created vignettes of the characters and their way of life, keeping both the land and the voices of its people at the center of the narrative.
A Doctor’s Abortion Training Journey:
Illustrating a Sensitive First-Person Narrative
Led the art direction for a first-person account following a doctor who traveled across state lines to receive abortion training.
Because the subject remained anonymous, illustration replaced moments that could not be photographed. Working with an illustrator, I developed a visual approach that protected her privacy while conveying isolation, emotional weight, and a sense of risk. A streamlined palette and consistent use of shadow created a continuous visual thread through her experience. Simply styled pull quotes punctuated the journal, highlighting moments meant to linger with the reader.
An American is Kidnapped in Mexico:
Visualizing a harrowing investigation
Led the visual direction of an investigative story, shaping structure, pacing, and imagery to support the emotional weight and complexity of the reporting.
Limited by our CMS, I designed the story architecture, art directed illustrations, and carefully crafted photo grids to tell a complete story. Where photography wasn’t appropriate, alternative visuals filled the gaps—surveillance footage documented a kidnapping, while illustrated panels captured painful moments described by victims and family members. A consistent chapter-break system paired isolated imagery with restrained typography, creating pauses and visual rhythm between sections of reporting.
POLITICO Weekend:
Launching a culture-forward newsletter
Shaped the visual system for a new newsletter designed to move fluidly between cultural commentary and political reporting.
Working with the editor and an icon illustrator, I developed a flexible set of icons that could adapt across story tones while maintaining a cohesive identity. Designed within CMS and newsletter constraints, a system of typographic labels scaled cleanly across platforms, while art direction choices within the newsletter focused on preserving its distinct visual voice.
Presidential candidate memoirs:
An interactive editorial experiment
Art-directed illustration, designed and shaped a quiz-style story format that made political memoirs feel playful and accessible while highlighting the humor in their predictable patterns.
Alongside the story editor and an interactive designer, I guided an illustration approach that balanced warmth, humor, and recognizability. Through a collaborative sketch phase, type and layout decisions created an experience that allowed for quick scanning and intuitive interaction, while viewing all candidates’ answers in the reveal made the similarities between their anecdotes unmistakable and funny.
The Thirsties Awards
An interactive “awards” story for D.C.’s biggest media weekend
Led the visual direction of a playful, satirical interactive experience timed
to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
I designed the story structure, visual system, and color palette, and guided the illustration direction in close collaboration with another team member. Working with an interactive designer, we built a tactile envelope-opening interaction that mimicked the drama of an awards show. While grounded in careful reporting, the design leaned into the uneasy humor and anticipation surrounding these dubious honors.
All work shown was created for clients or employers and is displayed for portfolio purposes only. Copyright remains with the respective owners.