Clare Lynne Ramirez brings creative diversity into one of America’s oldest newsrooms
Sofia Koyama
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On the tail end of Filipino American History Month, we’re kicking things off with a conversation with journalist and designer Clare Lynne Ramirez. Clare is a designer and art director for The Washington Post Magazine, working on projects for print and web. Since joining The Washington Post in 2017, she has worked in many sections across the newsroom, including business, technology, sports and features.
The visuals chosen to accompany stories can affect the mood of the piece and enhance the reader’s experience. As an art director, how do you decide what visuals or illustrations to accompany stories?
CLARE LYNNE RAMIREZ (she/her): When I start the illustration process, I like to spend a lot of time researching so I can be sure to select the right artist for a story. Before I do this, I have conversations with the story editor to figure out what the tone of the piece is. If a story is more positive, I would search for an artist with a bright and fun style. If I’m looking for a portrait, I’ll look for an artist who is good at drawing likenesses. It’s all about what best serves the story and finding the visual style and concept to match it.
Is your design process for digital stories different compared to your process for print ones?
CLARE: It’s great being able to design enterprise and feature stories for our site and flex my storytelling muscles in a different way than in print. The process really comes down to something I said earlier, which is figuring out what best serves the story. Do we let the visuals speak for themselves? Or is there something technical we can do to elevate the visuals? Whether I’m working with illustrations, videos, photos or graphics, it’s a very collaborative process to figure out the right pacing and treatment for each project.
What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on so far, and do you have any ideas you’re itching to try out, whether for digital or for print?
CLARE: In the past year I’ve been working closely with the Magazine team to produce projects like our 2020 Photo Issue both online and in print. I had the opportunity to work on the digital design for Canary: The Washington Post Investigates, which was such an interesting storytelling challenge to depict a podcast in a visual page. I also enjoyed art directing a special Business of Weddings issue a few years ago — I created the money origami and even asked a coworker to bring in her wedding dress and be our model.
As an AAPI journalist, you bring to the table a different perspective that has been uniquely shaped by your identity. How does it influence the art and illustrations you look for, as well as your editorial thinking?
CLARE: Something that is always on my mind is making sure that I’m working with a wide array of artists. I’ve been really proud to have brought in new artists to The Post who have never worked with us before, especially artists who are people of color and young women. I also think that art directors shouldn’t rely on BIPOC artists to only illustrate issues that pertain to race or culture. There are so many talented BIPOC artists out there who can illustrate any subject, and that’s what I aim to do in my position.
