Faculty Profiles
Steve Duenes : Graphics Director, The New York Times
Although he wasn’t aware of the concept of information visualization as a kid, Steve Duenes did draw a lot, and believe it or not, created flow charts for how he would tackle household chores. He has always had an interest in visual organization and communication.

His professional experience pursuing those interests has come almost entirely through journalism. Steve created print graphics at The Chicago Tribune, he joined the Web staff in 1997 when the entire site was hand-coded. After a couple of years creating interactive news packages, he joined The New York Times in 1999 as the graphics editor for science.
Shortly after that, Steve attended a conference on scientific visualization at M.I.T., and it was apparent that the others in attendance weren’t designers or illustrators. They were scientists who created their own charting forms to better understand the data they produced in the course of their research. In a way, the scientists were attempting to do what those in the news industry were doing at the newspaper every day - making complex data clear.
Since then, his job has changed a little, but he still pursues the same goals. In 2004, Steve became the graphics director at The Times. He is responsible for all the print and interactive graphics, and the two aren’t as separate as most would guess. The foundations for both are good reporting, sophisticated visual thinking and clear design.
AWARDS INCLUDE
Society of Publication Designers, American Institute of Graphic Arts, Society for News Design, Society of Professional Journalists
- Education
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BA, University of Notre Dame
- Professional Experience
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Deputy Graphics Director, The New York Times; Science Graphics Editor, The New York Times; Design Director for Interactive News, The Chicago Tribune
- Publications
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The New York Times, The New Yorker, Information graphics for: 102 Minutes, by Kevin Flynn and Jim Dwyer; City in the Sky, By Eric Lipton and James Glanz
- On the Web


