Olympics 2016: The Fine Line

The New York Times

What makes athletes like Simone Biles the world’s best? That’s one of the questions that The New York Times tries to answer every two years with their Olympics special features. In 2016, the Sports desk selected four unique athletes and use interactive video to explain what they do and how they do it.

Role:

Lead designer & developer


View Online

Mobile First

News consumption in the U.S. happens mostly on mobile devices, so that became a priority from the beginning of the design phase. In the past, this kind of interactives followed a more standard video-explainer format. The goal this time was to create a more casual experience where readers are in control of the pacing so each piece of information is easier to digest.

A total of four interactives where designed with the similar guidelines and focused
After the mobile versions where designed, I proceeded to scale up to support larger screens

Card Structure

I designed The Fine Line as a hybrid between a feed of content cards and a Snapchat story, with full-screen videos taking over the screen to highlight the main parts of the story.

Swipe to Fast Forward… or Rewind

In the longest video sequences, readers can swipe back and forth between captions, effectively rewinding or speeding up a few frames, so they are in control of the pacing. The lighter narrative tone, video quotes, technical explainers and “moments of surprise” makes the stories very engaging.

Awards

  • Malofiej International Infographics Awards 2017 – Gold, Features
  • Online Journalism Awards, 2017 – Winner, Feature, Large Newsroom
  • Society for News Design (SND) Awards 2017 – Gold, Features: Single-subject project
  • Society for News Design (SND) Awards 2017 – Gold, Special events: 2016 Summer Olympic Games
  • Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) Awards 2017 – First Prize, Multimedia
  • World Press Photo Multimedia Award, 2017 – Second Prize, Immersive Storytelling
  • Pictures of the Year (POY) Awards 2017 – Second Place, Online Feature Story Editing
  • Society of Publication Designers (SPD) Awards 2017 – Silver, Web Animated Content

More Projects

T

The Digital Magazine

The New York Times Magazine
Digital art direction and strategy to shape and advance the magazine‘s online presence.
O

Olympics 2016: The Fine Line

The New York Times
What makes athletes like Simone Biles the world’s best? This mobile-first project explains it.
A

Ambulante

Freelance
UX and content strategy for the new website of this famous Mexican film festival
I

Innovation & Expansion

Museum of American Jewish History
UX/UI design and development of a site-specific interactive exhibition about the expansion of American Jewish communities in the 19th century.
A

A Murderous War on Drugs

The New York Times
A Pulitzer winning photo story to denounce the murderous Philippine war on drugs
2

25 Songs: The Music Issue

The New York Times Magazine
The top songs of the years in a single playlist to listen… and read
E

Editorial Design

The New York Times
Interactive articles selected from my work as Graphics Editor for The New York Times
B

Beam Signing

9/11 Memorial & Museum & Local Projects
An special interactive guestbook to collect and map messages of hope and tributes to the 9/11 victims
L

Last Column

9/11 Memorial & Museum & Local Projects
Multitouch application to navigate the mementos on the last standing column of the World Trade Center site.
D

Desperate Crossing

The New York Times Magazine
A cinematic photo-essay to portrait the tragedy of migrants crossing the Mediterranean sea.
M

Memorial Guide

9/11 Memorial & Museum & Local Projects
Web explorer of the 9/11 memorial to geolocate the names of the victims on the Memorial Plaza.
T

The Ring

Salamanca University / Liceu Barcelona Opera House
A website about Wagner‘s Ring cycle of Operas told through audio, video and custom narratives.