GNSI-DC chapter: Fernando Baptista, National Geographic artist video

 A video recording of Fernando Baptista's lecture for the GNSI-DC Chapter is now available on GNSI's YouTube Channel and below.

Fernando Baptista: National Geographic Artist

In this one hour presentation, Fernando Baptista, renowned artist at National Geographic Magazine, shares his process, challenges, and successes of creating illustrations and infographics. To transform complex concepts into clear compelling visuals for the readers, a single project can often require months of work, a specialized team, an incredible amount of sketches and models, and an absolute obsession for detail. Fernando has traveled to Jerusalem, London, the Amazon forest and many other places to consult with experts and collect information for his work. In addition to sharing his approach to journalism, art, and design, Fernando also talks about how he balances traditional and digital techniques and how he innovates his art through stop-motion animation, paper modeling, and interactive online graphics. 

Fernando holds a degree in Fine Arts from the University of País Vasco, Spain. He worked as an illustrator and freelance designer for several years until he started working at the newspaper “El Correo” in 1993. In 2007 he became part of the graphics team at National Geographic Magazine in Washington D.C. He is an associate professor of University of Navarra, Spain and has taught in many conferences and workshops around Europe, Middle East, United States and Latin America. In 2012, he was named one of the top 5 Most influential graphic artist of the last 20 years.

Fernando has won more than 150 awards from SND editions (Society for News Design), SPD, ÑH, Best American Infographic, and Malofiej, including the Peter Sullivan award, best known as “The Pulitzer” for infographics. In 2013 he was nominated for an Emmy in the category of “New Approaches: Arts, Lifestyle, Culture” for his stop-animation work in “Walking with Giants”, and he got his second nomination for an Emmy this year. His illustrations are found in several museums and books.

Images Courtesy of National Geographic Partners.