With SND 45 in the books, board member Martina Ibáñez-Baldor set out to ask this year’s winners about their portfolios and tips for the rest of us. Rebecca Chew, Art Director for the Opinion pages for print and digital at The New York Times, won a Silver print awards for individual portfolio in the SND 45 digital competition.
What is your current job title, and how long have you been in that role?
I’m an art director in the Opinion section of The New York Times. I design the Opinion pages for print and digital, commission art, and create in-house illustrations. I’ve been here since 2021.
What do you love about designing for digital?
I come from a print background and when I started designing for digital I felt a loss of control. I’m used to pacing long-form narratives for print and I had to rethink techniques and approaches I’ve come to rely on. The limitations of digital are less of an impediment now. There are other ways to tell a story and designing for digital allows me to use other visual forms that wouldn’t make sense in print like animation and video. Because we watch so much on screens, photographs can also seem more cinematic digitally — there are no disruptive gutters. It’s interesting and challenging to think of how readers will interact with a story and I’m learning that ceding control can also be rewarding.
Which of these projects was the most challenging?
All the editorial board illustrations I worked on were challenging. Each illustration has to, in a few minimal moves, be smart and clear, on top of reflecting the institutional voice of the Times. I’m given very little time to execute, sometimes just two hours from ideation to filing the art. It’s also rather vulnerable being on the other side as an illustrator submitting sketches for approval. There are so many sketches that didn’t work out. It’s always a relief when editors get what you’re trying to achieve, and a bonus when you get to be a little funny with the illustration. But the nerves start to kick in again once a new editorial lands. It doesn’t get any easier.
What do you feel is the most important part of your design process?
Understanding the goals or argument of a project or article is the foundation for me. I need to wrap my head around the point of this thing we’re working towards — comprehending it, questioning it — before I can think about the design.
What is your favorite piece in your portfolio from this year?
“To Fall in Love With the World” is probably it. It was a close collaboration with Jacqueline Bates, our photography director. We edited Lee Mary Manning’s photos by printing them out, laying them on the floor, moving them around and standing back. A lot of rearranging and standing back, one of my favorite parts of this project. The writer, Brian Turner, was very open to having us edit his work and it was through his generosity that I got to pull poems from his books to be paired with Manning’s photos. Having a hand in shaping the content made this project particularly memorable for me.
What advice would you give to designers who are looking to improve their portfolios?
Only show work that you’re proud of. It’s not easy to do when you’re trying to display a breadth of skills (I’ve been guilty of that), but showing too much could dilute the strength of your portfolio. Edit your work like an editor and trim away the unnecessary bits, the work you don’t want to be hired for.