Tim Ball
Current Title: Europe’s Art Director/Print
Organization: Politico
Country: United States
SND Vision
Put simply: SND should be an invaluable resource for visual journalists at every stage of their career. Right now, to an outsider, it seems like there are two enthusiastic groups of people in the Society: college students hungry for feedback and connections and guidance in how best to make this a career; and veterans who have been a part of the Society for a decade or two (or three) who have reached what will likely be the pinnacle of their careers in journalism (to be clear: I count myself in this group — this isn’t an attempt to disparage either group!). What we seem to be missing is what got me to my own pinnacle: the active networking and hands-on opportunities to learn new skills from colleagues at the top of their respective games. It’s the early- and mid-career visual journalists that we need to reach, and not coincidentally it’s those folks who will be the future of SND. I don’t know how we accomplish that, but I’d sure like to be part of a team that will figure it out.
Bio
Tim Ball (he/they) is POLITICO Europe’s Art Director/Print, responsible for the look and feel of the weekly newspaper and all visuals commissioned for it. Prior to transitioning into this part-time role, he was POLITICO Europe’s founding Creative Director, joining the publication shortly after its launch in 2015 and overseeing art direction, design and photography on all platforms for its newsroom in Brussels — after quickly overhauling the look of the print edition with the first of two award-winning redesigns. Previously, he was Visuals Editor for the Bay Area News Group in California, where he managed a large team of designers, photographers and picture editors for the San Jose Mercury News, Oakland Tribune and other daily newspapers, helped plan and coordinate special coverage, implemented new leadership and vision for the photography department and launched a quarterly magazine — designing them all and conceiving of, and editing, one dedicated to all things food, called “eat.” (Tim likes to eat. Tim likes making friends with chefs. Tim would like to go back to working on a food magazine.) Prior to that, Tim was an art director at The Washington Post, where he coordinated the presentation of sports and arts coverage, news projects and the daily front page. Over the past 27 years, Tim — a Northern California native — has worked as a design consultant and in various roles as a manager, editor, reporter and photographer in newsrooms large and small across the U.S., including the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Indianapolis Star and San Antonio Express-News. You’d be hard pressed to find a journalist with experience in such a wide array of newsrooms. (But you’re right: They all have the same problems!) His work has been honored nationally and internationally by the Society for News Design, National Press Photographers Association and Pictures of the Year International. Tim has served as a judge in SND’s annual competition three times and is a regular guest speaker on art direction, design and picture editing. Under his leadership, POLITICO has received more than 250 awards of excellence from SND and been named a finalist in its World’s Best Designed Newspaper competition four times. Having lived in Belgium, the Netherlands, Thailand and 13 American states, Tim calls Charlottesville, Virginia, home… for now (but is getting antsy having lived there an entire year).