GELIFES Seminars - Fernando Baptista

Fernando Baptista (National Geographic)

Telling stories with infographics

National Geographic's Fernando Baptista

During the last 30 years Fernando G. Baptista has produced all kinds of graphics and animations. For the last 14 years he has been a senior artist in National Geographic. His work focuses on diagrammatic graphics about history, biology, animals and much more. His graphics show the processes as well as the reconstruction of the past and visualize the complicated information that you cannot see in the photos or explain with text. His work starts with researching the subject, sometimes traveling to the location to meet with experts and gather visual references. During all the process, from the initial sketches to the final piece, Fernando and the researchers work closely with the best experts in their fields. His work is a mix of traditional and digital art, he creates handmade illustrations, sculpts clay models, and combines all of them digitally. Fernando works in both print and digital platforms, using new approaches like creating animations in stop motion with paper, models, and recycled materials. The most important part of his job is the portrayal of information, it all needs to be correct, nevertheless he tries to surprise and engage the readers with his enticing illustrations.

Biosketch
He holds a degree in Fine Arts from the University of the Basque Country, Spain. Fernando had worked as an illustrator and freelance designer for several years until he started working in the newspaper “El Correo” in 1993. In 2007 he became part of the graphics team of 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. Fernando is currently teaching scientific illustration in the University of the Basque Country in Spain. In 2012, he was named one of the top 5 Most influential graphic artists of the last 20 years. He has won more than 250 awards from SND editions (Society for News Design), Malofiej, Webbys, British Archaeologist Award, SPD, ÑH, and Best American Infographic, 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 around the world. Fernando is a big fan of Sci-fi and comic books.
National Geographic article

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