Chiqui Esteban
Visuals Director, Opinions, at The Washington Post

Former Graphics Director at The Washington Post, Deputy Director of Design, Maps and Graphics at National Geographic, Graphics Director at The Boston Globe, Digital and visual consultant at Innovation Media.

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A computer showing a x-ray body under the title 'The Blast Effect' with a black background and a smartphoen standing showing a 3d model of a boy with orange marks and a small text over it
I pitched, edited and was responsible for the planning and structure of 'The Blast Effect', the visual piece that led the series that won the Pulitzer pize for National reporting and was finalist for Public Service in 2024.
A screenshot of a graphics showing the movies nomiated for golden globes for best picture on drama and comedy, the winners are highlighted
Awards template Design and development of a template to show candidates to awards with several categories with quick live updating capabilities during the awards night.
An illustration of a whale shark with a submarinist in in front of it
Sizing up sharks Online design and development of a story comparing sharks illustrated by Fernando G. Baptista. It became the most read story in nationalgeographic.com's history.
Illustration of Abigail and John Qincy Adams watching the battle of Bunker Hill from a hilltop
Design, development and art direction of America 250, a year-long series of articles commemorating the anniversary of the American independence.
“An extraordinary leader, a superb collaborator and a terrific editor. (...)
Chiqui is an unflappable journalist who performs at an ultra-high level during intense deadline pressure and despite a heavy workload. (...)
Chiqui makes everyone around him better by demanding excellence of himself and his colleagues. His contributions have been critical to making our graphics team one of the world’s best.”
Marty Baron and Emilio Garcí­a Ruiz
Screenshot of an online article titled 'The weekend that shook the world' with several colored images of people on the stock market, Bush ina. press conference and others.
The weekend that shook the world Online design and development
Images of 4 federal workers on a grid with the texts The Cnaary, The Sentinel, The Cyber Sleuth and The Equalizer. These are black and white portraits of three men and a woman
Who is government? Container design and development
Israel-Iran conflict A dart target, but the balack and white tiles draw the nuclear symbol
U.S.-Iran conflict A B2 bomber dropping bombs with an olive brach in front, as having it in hits beak
Mamdani and NY Thw statue of liberty with her left fist up
AI and lover A smartphone with a beating heart on the screen
Science and Nobel prizes An atom fromed with colored Nobel medals over a yellow bakcground
Trump and D.C. A shadow resembling Donald Trump over Washington DC
School and parents A book, but one of its pages is the screen of a phone with 'Mom' calling. There's a pencil and an used rubber.
U.S. and the Middle East A globe with a U.S. flag stuck in the Middle East
Palestinian statehood Four flags of Palestine, with the red triangles connecting each like a four way arrow.
D.C. and the National Guard The Washington monument in camo colors with the DC flag behind
“Chiqui Esteban's command of visual aesthetics and design principles teamed with his skill mastery have propelled innovation in graphic journalism during his prolific career.”
Ball State University School of Journalism, in their statement recognizing Chiqui Esteban with the 2022 Majeri Award for Graphic Journalism
A computer and a phone showing data charts with baseball diamonds and annotations
Every single at-bat in the 2019 World Series Design, data and development of a full play-by-play that was updated right after each game ended.
A computer and a phone showing an Arsenal badge with some text and a quiz
What Premier League team should you root for? Design, data and development of a quiz that helps you pick a PL tema based on your personal tastes.
Illustration of Abigial and John Qincy Adams watching the battle of Bunker Hill from a hilltop
Design and development of a team roster template with selectors the Post has used for tournament rosters, top 100 players in a league, and other solutions.
Prompt redesign
Prompt is an Opinions format that publishes twice a week as a newsletter and web article, featuring a text-based conversation among columnists. I redesigned the format and developed a system that recognizes the columnists (even if the way they use diminutives or first names only), uses speech bubbles similar to texts, gives a different style to each participant and adds a mugshot for columnists. It still can be publsihed unformatted for newsletters and can be set in less than five minutes.
BEFORE
Long screenshot of a text-based article with a photo of Trump
AFTER
Long screenshot of an artivle with a photoillustration fo the Capitol and a padlock at the top and several speech bubbles
“(Chiqui) has a wonderfully diverse skillset that includes digital design and development, 3-D modeling, illustration, research and reporting, data visualization and editing. He brings a depth of experience and boundless enthusiasm for exploring the best way to tell stories visually.”
Kat Downs, Lázaro Gamio and Samuel Granados

Resume

The Washington Post (2016-...)

Visuals Director, Opinions (Jan. 2025-...)

Graphics Director (Jan. 2018-Jan. 2025)

Deputy Graphics Director (Aug. 2016-Jan. 2018)

Senior Graphics reporter (Apr. 2016-Aug. 2016)

I lead the visuals team in Opinions, overseeing design, art direction, illustration, photography, graphics, special formats, and digital presentations.
As Graphics Director, I managed a team of approximately 30 editors and reporters who create graphics, maps, interactives, and tools for both print and online platforms. We pitched, reported, and produced our own stories.
My teams have produced six of the seven most-read stories in the Post's history. We contributed to four Pulitzer Prize-winning projects and received hundreds of awards, including recognition from the National Press Foundation, Online News Association (ONA), Society for News Design (SND), and Malofiej, among many others.

National Geographic (2015-2016)

Deputy Director of Design, Art and Graphics (March 2015-Apr. 2016)

The Boston Globe (2012-2015)

Graphics Director (Oct. 2013-Apr. 2015)

Graphics reporter (Nov. 2012-Oct. 2013)

Innovation Media Consulting (2007-2012)

Digital and graphics consultant.

I combined my regular job with freelancing as a consultant for several media companies in Europa and Latin America, including L'Equipe, Gazzetta dello Sport, Il Corriere, Le Monde, Últimas Noticias, Eurosport and other.

Lainformacion.com (2009-2012)

New Narratives Director

Público (2007-2009)

Graphics reporter

Diario de Cádiz (2004-2007)

Graphics reporter

La Voz de Galicia (2002-2004)

Graphics reporter