The Society for News Design is excited to announce its first group of speakers for Unite & Rebel, the annual workshop being held this year in Charlotte, N.C. on April 19-21. Come back for more speaker announcements next week. Celebrate the way design and creativity powers the world. This is the event of the year, so sign up today!
BO BOGHOSIAN
Software engineer • Niantic
Boghosian is a software engineer at Niantic, which is based in San Francisco. If you’ve not heard of the company, you probably have heard of its marquee product — Pokemon Go. Boghosian was one of the lead engineers on the most downloaded app of 2016, and jokes that it’s his job to place Pokemon throughout the world for people to find, amongst numerous other back-end dev duties. Read the SND CLT interview with Boghosian
ASHLEY BOYD
Pastry Chef • 300 East and Heritage Food & Drink
Boyd is a Charlotte native who’s been working in the restaurant industry for more than 20 years, with a specialty in desserts. Boyd splits her time between 300 East and Heritage Food & Drink, where she’s been working alongside Chef Paul Verica for a little over a year now. Boyd’s background in fine arts is apparent to diners when they view her beautiful desserts. Read the SND CLT interview with Boyd
TOBIAS FRERE-JONES
Type Designer • Frere-Jones type foundry
For more than two decades, Frere-Jones has been one of the world’s premier type designers, creating numerous typefaces that news designers use every day, including Interstate, Poynter Oldstyle, Whitney, Gotham and Retina, across mobile, tablet, desktop and print news products. Read the SND CLT interview with Frere-Jones
JAMEY FRY
Creative Director • Washington Business Journal
Fry has been Creative Director at the Washington Business Journal for five years. Prior to that he was art director at CQ Roll Call, Boeing and the Chicago Sun-Times. Fry led the redesign of the WBJ three years ago and his work has been honored in SND’s annual Best of News Design design competition each of the last three years. Read the SND CLT interview with Fry
LUCIE LACAVA
Consultant • Lacava, Inc.
Lacava is a past president of SND (2001), as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award winner (2010). She has been a design consultant for more than 25 years and has won more than 100 awards from the Society in her career, including multiple World’s Best-Designed Newspaper honors. Read the SND CLT interview with Lacava
KEVIN MERIDA
Editor • The Undefeated
Merida is a Senior Vice President at ESPN and editor-in-chief of The Undefeated, a web site that explores the intersections of race, sports and culture. He is responsible for the site’s editorial direction, tone and policies, and provides oversight and strategy leadership for key initiatives undertaken by The Undefeated. Before joining ESPN, Merida worked at The Washington Post for more than 20 years in various roles, including Style writer, magazine columnist, associate editor, national editor and managing editor. During his tenure as M.E., The Post won three Pulitzer Prizes. Read the SND CLT interview with Merida
RANDY STANO
Professor • Univ. of Miami
Stano is a 2017 SND Lifetime Achievement award recipient and has taught at the University of Miami since 1995. Stano’s students have gone on to work at publications such as The Boston Globe, Washington Post and San Francisco Chronicle. His students, past and present, describe him as a treasured mentor and key player in their career development. Stano was SND President in 1992, while working at the Miami Herald. The following year, the Herald won the Pulitzer Prize in Public Service for their coverage of Hurricane Andrew, with Stano serving as director of editorial art and design. Read the SND CLT interview with Stano
PAUL VERICA
Chef/Owner • Heritage Food & Drink
Verica spent 20-plus years working in the restaurant industry before he decided to follow his dreams and open Heritage Food & Drink in 2013. Heritage, which was ranked as the top restaurant in Charlotte last year, is nestled in a small town just outside the city limits, which Verica describes as “a classic, old-school Americana town with train tracks running through it.” It’s not uncommon to find Verica sketching his next dish on a notepad. As Verica will tell you, he needs to visualize the dish and its components before he picks up his knife and goes to work back in the kitchen. Read the SND CLT interview with Verica
YURI VICTOR
Designer/Developer • Vox Media
Victor, who helped start Vox.com, has traveled around the world teaching journalists how to design and code. As a principle Designer and Developer for Vox Media, Victor has designed over 50 tools that help journalists tell stories visually. Before Vox.com, he worked as the Director of Product Development at The Washington Post. Like so many in our changing industry, Victor once designed for print at the Times of Northwest Indiana. He has received two Presidents Awards from The Society for his contributions to the design field. Read the SND CLT interview with Victor