folha de s.paulo
Turning reporting and data into visual explanations during Brazil's presidential election period.
01· context
Joined one of Brazil's largest newspapers during the 2022 elections, creating infographics and data visualizations under the fast-paced demands of a daily newsroom.
The work spanned breaking news, electoral coverage, and explanatory journalism, often requiring complex information to be transformed into visuals within tight deadlines.
02· my role
Information Design · Data Visualization · Editorial Design
I worked within Folha's Art Department, translating reporting and data into visual formats that could support journalistic storytelling and help readers quickly understand complex topics.
03· the challenge
Newsrooms operate under very different conditions than research or consulting projects.
Information changes quickly, deadlines are short, and visual decisions need to support immediate understanding. The challenge was to balance speed and accuracy while producing graphics that could communicate complex information at a glance.
04· key decisions
decision #1
Reduce complexity without removing context.
Many stories involved political, economic, or social topics that carried significant nuance. The challenge was to simplify information while preserving the elements readers needed to make sense of the story.
decision #2
Design for immediate understanding.
Readers often encounter news visuals while scanning headlines or moving quickly through an article. Information hierarchy, labeling, and visual emphasis were designed to communicate the main idea within seconds.
decision #3
Adapt visual form to editorial needs.
Maps, timelines, explanatory diagrams, and data visualizations were chosen based on the question the reporting was trying to answer rather than following a fixed visual formula.
selected visualizations
05· outcome
The work contributed to Folha's daily coverage during one of the most consequential election periods in recent Brazilian history.
More importantly, the experience reinforced a core principle that continues to shape my work today: good information design is not about adding complexity to information, but about helping people understand it quickly, clearly, and in context.