We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Yutao Chen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Yutao with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
Process is equally, if not more, crucial than results.
It’s hard for me to discern how I originally developed this mindset at a very young age. I just instinctively gravitated towards things that displayed meticulous craftsmanship, whether it’s a sports team known for a distinctive style of play or films thoughtfully shot and edited.
As I grew and matured as a visual storyteller later in life, the desire to approach things in a specific way persisted. I often found myself patiently waiting for moments to unfold, anticipating the right opportunity to capture them. I would spend hours organizing visual assets, trying to visualize the most compelling way to present a narrative. Although this approach may seem obsolete, inefficient or even counterproductive at yielding the best results, it has become my comfort zone, the tried-and-true approach I’ve grown accustomed to in my creative process.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I’m a news designer at The Washington Post focusing on multimedia and interactive narratives. I collaborate with the photo, video and graphics team extensively to conceptualize stories and find the most compelling way to present them online.
As a multimedia journalist, I’ve never felt strongly attached to one specific format of visual storytelling. I came from a background of photography and documentary filmmaking and subsequently added web design and development to my skill set. The mixture of experiences has proven to be incredibly beneficial as I contribute to these highly collaborative projects.
While the stories I work on can be presented similarly to traditional news articles, I believe the design choices amplify the narratives and the characters, providing readers with a deeper understanding of the issues or topics at hand. These design decisions can be bold and innovative, pushing the boundary of digital visual storytelling at times. The idea that there’s no limit to the ways stories can be told feels incredibly exciting to me.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The three qualities I found the most impactful in my journey would be the ability to adapt, a consistent pursuit of inspiration through documentation and practice, and finally, an open-minded approach that prioritizes the work created over your professional identity.
Assigning yourself to a specific professional path or role can be limiting, especially for people early in their journey. Don’t get too caught up in overthinking about who you want to become. Instead, seize any opportunity to create something that genuinely interests you and you will form your identity and unique voices over time.
Also expose yourself to more work by others, even if it seems irrelevant to your field. You never know when or where inspiration may strike. When you do find something that speaks to you, don’t forget to document those inspirations and find an excuse for yourself to practice them one day.
Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?
Even though I believe both approaches can lead to success, I’ve opted to pursue the well-rounded path in my professional journey. It has led me to opportunities I hadn’t anticipated and also cultivated my ability to craft complex visual narratives with a multifaceted mindset.
While working as the multimedia editor at The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the newspaper of record in Arkansas, I wasn’t able to produce many stories that would require a lot of field work due to the covid-19 pandemic. Drawing upon my proficiency in web design and development, I constructed a coronavirus tracker page, delivering daily updates on the pandemic within both state and national contexts. The project proved to be immensely successful, serving as a dependable source of vital information during a challenging time.
Similarly, my current role at The Washington Post mostly involves designing and developing interactive narratives, but my ability to tell stories through photography and videos allows me to produce content-driven designs and identify opportunities from visual materials that others may not recognize.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.yutaochen.com/
- Instagram: @yutaochenn
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yutaochenn/
- Twitter: @yutaochenn
Image Credits
Personal photo – Meiying Wu Additional photos – Yutao Chen
