SND 45 Q&A: Print Individual Portfolio winner: Caitlin Choi

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. Caitlin Choi, Art Director for Review at the Wall Street Journal, 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?
My current job title is Art Director for Review at the WSJ. I started at the end of last February, so last year was exciting on many fronts!

What do you love about designing for print/digital?
At the Journal, my primary responsibility is to commission illustrations and oversee the design of the section. Even though I'm technically on the print side, all the illustrations appear online as well. And when I make the commission, I work with the artist to make sure it can work in both spaces, which sometimes can be challenging since the platforms are so different. For instance, color appears very differently online than on paper, especially newsprint so we have to be careful when working with colors to choose ones that translate well in both CMYK and RGB. The other consideration we need to keep in mind is the composition and how the illustration will work across the different iterations.

Also I love being able to do full page commissions, taking advantage of the paper height, but that can't happen on digital. But online, we have more options on how to treat the headers as we have several different templates we can use. And of course being able to do animation is great, too.

Which of these projects was the most challenging?
The one that Richard Borge did about how Florida became a Republican hotspot is memorable because while it was fun to do we were under a tight deadline and there were multiple pieces involved with last minute additions and changes. But he did it all with aplomb. And he also did a fun animation which was so fun.
What do you feel is the most important part of your design process?

The most important part of the design process in my mind is getting the right illustrator. For the aforementioned story, I had worked with Richard before and thought his vintage tin toy look would be perfect for that playful, circus-like atmosphere we were going for with the elephants. So for me, it's about finding the right artist because even if you have an idea in mind, things can change as you work on a story and you need someone who can adapt and still make it work.

What is your favorite piece in your portfolio from this year?
It's really difficult to say which is my favorite in the portfolio because they all have so much meaning and came about in such different circumstances. Each commission taught me so much about collaboration and the creative process. I love them all for their uniqueness. But the one that Lincoln Agnew did of Putin's rogue state, that came about quickly too and it also hit close to home because it was shortly after the arrest of Evan Gershkovich and we all wanted to do our part, however small, in showing support for him. In the end, it was a powerful image and I love that I was able to incorporate the headline into the image for print and yet the negative space worked online as well since the headline treatment is different for digital.

What advice would you give to designers who are looking to improve their portfolios?
In making your portfolio, I would say find someone you trust to help you edit your work. I'm the worst at looking at my own work so I always seek input from others. They can help you figure out the right mix. Even though they are individual pieces, they have to work together as a unit since they're being seen together.

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