Charles Apple

Arizona Republic sports designer Desiree Shoe is leaving Phoenix to take a part-time job at The New York Times and to pursue free-lance work.

In his official announcement to the staff of the Republic, news design director Bill Pliske wrote:

On one hand, you’re probably saying “Wow! the NYT!” … and then it hits you, “sh*t, we’re losing Des.”

We’ll obviously miss her terrific design skills, work ethic and everything else she brought to our products, but y’know, we’ll mostly miss her. You simply couldn’t ask for a better co-worker or a nicer person.

It’s hard to believe it’s only been a couple years since we brought over that UNC girl and threw her into the (nearly) all-boys club in sports. But it couldn’t have worked out any better.

So…. her last day will be Saturday, Dec. 27. Stop by and say “hi” to her on the 7th floor if you get a chance. Des can fill in the blanks, but in addition to the NYT, she also has some lifelong friends there in the city and her family is a drive away down the coast. So despite her being sad in leaving her Phoenix family, she’s definitely got a lot to look forward to.

A 2007 graduate of the University of North Carolina, Desiree served as a marketing intern at Eurosport and wrote features for the Daily Tar Heel before accepting a Pulliam Fellowship at the Republic. That internship evolved into a permanent position.

Desiree wrote in her blog about her reasons for the move:

Working part-time in the sports department of the Times is going to be an exhilarating, scary experience.

I worry about money, obviously - I know the cost of living is ridiculously high in New York. But the job pays well for a part-time gig, as long as I keep working steadily, and in the meantime, I hope to find other freelancing or more permanent opportunities in the city. I’m interested in exploring the publishing and advertising worlds.

Basically, I’m making one of the biggest gambles in my life, going to New York… but, deep in my heart, I think it’s a gamble that’s going to pay off.

And, she says, she will miss Phoenix:

It’s bittersweet to be leaving Phoenix and its sweltering summers and dry, desert landscape… but damn, will I miss it here.

I’ll miss this place that I’ve made into a home, however much I may have resisted it. I’ll miss the enormous, open bowl of blue sky. I’ll miss the mountains in the distance. I’ll miss the drive on the bridge over Tempe Town Lake, looking across at the mountain cradling Sun Devil Stadium. I’ll miss the random tumbleweeds, the In n’ Out, the Thai place in downtown Phoenix, and the Coyotes (the hockey team, not the small canines).

Most of all, I’ll miss the people.

A few samples of Desiree’s work:

See more of her work in her online portfolio or in her NewsPageDesigner gallery.

Find Desiree’s blog here.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 31st, 2008 at 9:35 am and is filed under Free-lance, Job changes, Sports design, Visual Editors, VizEds Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.