Lisa Clausen, a design director for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, has succumbed to cancer. She was 51.
Photo by The Missourian
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She died at 10 a.m. Tuesday, according to a memo sent out by the University of Missouri’s Tom Warhover. Lisa taught at Mizzou two years ago as a Knight Visiting Professor.
She graduated from there herself in 1979 and obtained a master’s degree there in 1983. She also worked for the Kansas City Star, the Kansas City Times, the Colorado Springs Gazette, the San Diego Union-Tribune and the Los Angeles Times., according according to her obituary in today’s Missourian.
A longtime features design director in Minneapolis, the Strib promoted her to design director last year.
Cory Powell, managing editor for presentation at the Star-Tribune, writes:
My wife had a great memory of Lisa that I’d forgotten. We’d invited her and her husband over for dinner shortly after they’d moved here. Kristen remembered:
She was our only dinner guest who brought a hostess gift for our dog Sydney! She and her husband, Bill, love dogs. The first time we entertained them, she brought Cory and me a bottle of wine and brought Syd a bone!
Her impact here was really great. She was thoughtful, encouraging, passionate, wildly creative and had such strong character. She was just a wonderful person. I know I’m better for having known and worked with her.
Former Star Tribune Deputy Managing Editor Monica Moses — now a mangement and innovation consultant — writes:
Lisa and I took a weekly yoga class together the last few months. She told me it often the only time she left the house. It was a big deal for her, in her last months, to be able to drive a few blocks to yoga, and she loved the class. Whenever the moves got too strenuous, Lisa would revert to Child’s Pose until she’d regain her strength. I won’t forget looking over and seeing her in that pose, managing to breathe and move and appreciate what her body could still do. At the end of the class, when we’d be in the final relaxation pose, she’d always lie there and say, “I wish I could stay here forever.” I wish she could too.
When you asked Lisa to your house, she always brought a hostess gift — not just for you but for your pets! She was a huge animal lover — which was good because she had huge dogs. Steve, a 90-pound chocolate Lab, used to follow her around the house, waiting outside the bathroom when she was sick and putting a paw in her lap when she was resting.
Chris Clonts –senior editor, online at the St. Paul Pioneeer Press — writes:
Lisa valued the concise in design. She taught a spartan discipline that somehow saw no limits. So all I can really think of to say is this:
The world would be more beautiful place if more people designed like Lisa. It would be a better place if more people treated others as Lisa did.
The Strib design desk saw lots of folks go and come and go in the time she was sick. It’s sad to think of the folks who will never be acquainted with her, inspired by her or coached by her. I’m grateful I was able to experience all three.
Missouri instructor Jake Sherlock shares his memories of Lisa in his blog:
Even when I was a grumpy asshole, she was somehow able to get me to snap out of it. She and I had long talks on the weekends about design and how to best teach it, and I gained important new insights. I developed a better appreciation for typography. I learned how to better use white space. I found myself inspired. And I became a better teacher and a better journalist because I spent that time with her.
Lisa was a quiet force in our newsroom. She never got stressed out or upset, never complained about staying late or coming in early. She was able to leave work at work and enjoy her many friends, her interests, and Steve the dog. She was always willing to lend a helping hand, a sympathetic ear or talk through an idea. She inspired grand ideas in our design and in our journalism.
Former Union Tribune artist Paul Horn writes:
The Godzilla obit was not only our best collaboration, but it was the most fun. It ended up winning an SND award (part of my infographics portfolio) and I believe it was reprinted in a book by British design guru Edwin Taylor.
We worked in tandem, bouncing ideas and mock-ups off of each other. I think it was her idea to totally obscure the Arts hed with Godzilla’s head. She also came up with a “He’s hot, he’s T-Rexy and he’d dead” headline on the jump. We agreed to run various cover elements vertical as to mimic Japanese poster design.
Another thing I remember is how Lisa championed the package. She convinced the Arts editor that not only was our package cover-worthy but it also took up another page-and-a-half inside. Pretty incredible, especially since the movie with Godzilla’s demise was only shown in Japan!
From the Missourian obit:
“Lisa was very quiet and understated for someone so brilliant,” said Joy Mayer, design editor for the Missourian. “People wouldn’t even realize they were in the presence of a rock star.”
Bill Gaspard of the Las Vegas Sun — who worked with Lisa in Kansas City, San Diego and L.A. — is quoted by Steve Cavendish at SND Update:
Her earnestness was something we would joke about … like I was Nietzsche and she was Air Supply. I always tried to help ease that inevitable disappointment when people didn’t do what they said they were going to. She was always looking for newspaper nirvana. Maybe now she’s found it somewhere.
Funeral arrangements are pending, according to the Missourian. We’ll add to this post as we obtain more information.
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