Chiqui Esteban
Creative Director, Opinions | 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.

Full resume | Contact

Graphics

My teams have broken audience and conversion all-time records at the Post and contributed to four Pulitzer Prize-winning projects. I have received numerous national and international news design awards, including recognitions from the Online News Association (ONA), Society for News Design (SND), National Press Foundation, White House Correspondents Association, and many others.

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 in 2024.

A headline with the text 'The Blast Effect' in a large font, with a person seen throough x-rays and a bullet in front of him. The lung is highlighted
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
An illustration of a whale shark with a submarinist in in front of it
Sizing up sharks Online design and development
“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

Digital design

Illustration of Abigial and John Qincy Adams watching the battle of Bunker Hill from a hilltop
America 250 Design, art direction and development of the series
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
Three speech bubbles in grey, yellow and pink, with mugshots on top and unreadable text inside
Prompt 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
“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 Majeri Award for Graphic Journalism

Illustration

“(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

Print work

Double page in a newspaper, big illustration of the Capitol on the left and a series of graphics and text on the right showing maps
A double newspaper page with iollustration on dark green and black
A single newspaper page with an org chart with faces in circles
A single newspaper page with comic panels in orange tones

Resume

The Washington Post (2016-...)

Creative 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