BIOGRAPHY

PHOTO: NATHAN WEYLAND

PHOTO: NATHAN WEYLAND

Hi, I'm Alex K. Fong, the San Francisco Chronicle’s deputy creative director for design, a role for which I manage, design, illustrate, report, write and code. As a newsroom leader, I advocate for cross-discipline collaboration and for making decisions democratically.

This year, my term as a member of the City College of San Francisco Journalism Department’s Advisory Board is ending. As a former student of that department still actively working at a media company, I pushed for a modernized curriculum that will help current students secure internships and jobs in today’s increasingly digital-focused industry.

Previously I worked as a freelance creative, crafting storytelling solutions in visual and audio mediums. Before that, I was the assistant design director of China Daily, where I worked for four years at the company's headquarters in Beijing.

Prior to that, I served as one of two originating members of the Digital First Media redesign team, creating a redesign for the company's 75 daily newspapers and 200 community weeklies with Tiffany Grandstaff. I was also one of 40 DFM employees selected to join the company's ideaLab, a group formed to experiment with journalism.

I have also been the deputy design director of the Bay Area News Group (San Jose Mercury News, Contra Costa Times, Oakland Tribune, and other titles throughout the San Francisco Bay Area), and a designer for the Las Vegas Sun.

My print, digital, redesign and product work has won awards from organizations including the Society for News Design, the National Press Photographers Association, Pictures of the Year International and the World Association of News Publishers. I was a judge for SND's Best of News Design competitions in 2013 and 2021, and a speaker at its annual conference in 2020. As a member of SND’s executive director search committee this year, I made explicit the fostering of inclusion and diversity as one of the role’s job requirements.

Please see my LinkedIn profile for a detailed CV.

Curriculum vitae

Experience

  1. Deputy Creative Director for Design, San Francisco Chronicle (2021-): Oversee design across platforms, including overseeing a team dedicated to digital storytelling.

  2. Freelance (2017-2020): I split my time between freelance clients and recurring work for the San Francisco Chronicle, for which I helped create the acclaimed Throughline limited series.

  3. Assistant Design Director, China Daily (2013-2017): I designed and art directed the front page, news sections, features, sports, illustrations and infographics while helping manage a department comprised of 10 designers. I redesigned the Shanghai Star and lead the redesign of China Daily's weekend features section.

  4. Digital First Media Redesign Team (2011-2013): I helped create the redesign, including new storytelling techniques and new brand identities for the Los Angeles Daily News and other DFM newspapers. I managed a team of four designers in a collaborative effort with corporate, local properties and Saxotech to roll out the redesign with a new pagination system to newspapers all across the country. My tenure on the redesign team was defined by my wide-ranging portfolio, which included tasks involving design, training, management and coding. Read more about the project at SND.org.

  5. Digital First Media IdeaLab Member (2012-2013)

  6. Deputy Design Director, San Jose Mercury News and Bay Area News Group (2010-2013, 2006-2007): I designed and art directed A1, features, sports, information graphics, illustrations and projects. I also served as executive night editor for the Sunday newspaper.

  7. Designer, Las Vegas Sun (2007-2010): Designed and art directed the front page, projects, information graphics and illustrations. I also assisted in the redesign of In Business, a weekly standalone business tabloid, and of Greenspun Media Group's community weeklies.

Education

  1. Poynter Institute Summer Fellowship for Young Journalists in Visual Journalism, 2006

  2. City College of San Francisco (2004-2005): Majored in journalism and music

  3. University of California, San Diego (1999-2004): B.A. Interdisciplinary in Computing and the Arts, minor in political science