Charles Apple

I had a nice little birthday article lined up last Friday for Washington Post Style design director Martha Wright, who was turning 28.

I was in the middle of choosing a photo from her Facebook gallery — and awfully tempted to use a shot of her in a Wonder Woman costume last Halloween — when I glanced at her message wall and discovered she was moving to Chicago.

Whoa! Big news!

I tried, but I couldn’t get that confirmed before Friday. As a result, I couldn’t figure out a way to write a conditionally post-Post post.

So I kind of ditched it.

Shame on me. Martha’s a very kind person. She’s also from my home state of South Carolina. And I let her special day pass without wishing her a happy birthday.

But that was Friday. Today, I have news to report: Martha Wright has left The Washington Post.

And what’s more, she doesn’t have a new job. At the moment, at least.

Martha writes:

I did that whole following-my-heart thing and relocated to Chicago to be closer to Ryan Smith, who designs the front page of the Tribune.

The Post was a great place to be, and I had a wonderful time. I loved Style and everyone there, but ultimately, Chicago was the city I wanted to be in.

It took me a while to decide to quit, but I have absolutely no regrets. Being happy and with people I love is the best life I can imagine.

Her last day at the Post was March 28. She flew to Chicago on April 3 and woke up Friday — her birthday — to her first full day in her new city.

Martha with her sweetie, Ryan. Photos
are from Martha’s Facebook gallery.
—

Martha spent four years as a copy editor, designer and finally design director for the Post’s Style section. Previously, she spent a little more than a year as a copy editor and designer for Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale.

Martha is a 2002 graduate of the University of South Carolina, where she studied print journalism and women’s studies. She’s originally from Lexington, S.C.

A few samples of Martha’s work:

Wonderful stuff. And surely we’ve posted enough samples to catch the eye of any editor in the Windy City who may need a designer with a classy touch. Here’s hoping Joe Knowles, Jonathan Berlin and Chris Courtney are reading the blog today.

Naturally, you can find more work in her NewsPageDesigner portfolio. You can catch Ryan’s front pages several days a week at The Newseum.

Best wishes, Martha, for late happy birthday, a speedy job search and a very, very happy new life in Chicago!

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 10th, 2008 at 7:42 am and is filed under Happy birthday, Job changes, Networking, News design, VizEds Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.