Justin J. Allen

Design work

My design and technology practice centers on the convergence and cross-pollination between narrative, information, and aesthetics. With formal training in the humanities but mostly on-the-job training in design and software development, my start in collaborative and self-publishing and grassroots projects grew gradually into a design career focused on enhancing content, empowering editors and writers, and creating sophisticated but accessible experiences for readers.

I’m a layout designer, newsroom technologist, and occasional data journalist; I’ve done book and broadsheet newspaper design but also branding, storyboarding UI/UX, content and data modeling, app design, data visualization and server administration. My specialty is working on content-driven web publications with editors, writers, and fellow media workers. I’ve also worked on a wide range of design objectives organized around other kinds of engagement, especially social movement organizing and political engagement.

For five years starting in 2016, I was part of the design and interactives team at EdSource, a nonprofit news source on California education. Prior to that I worked at Citizen Engagement Lab, which was my landing point from several years spent working as a freelancer. I served commercial and non-profit clients across the U.S. and in Europe both independently and with 10x Management and the Tech Underground consultant network.

For a sampling of design work please also see my portfolio on Behance. For code creations, here’s my Github page.

Awards:

First place, 2021 for Informational Graphics by the California News Publishers Association, along with Daniel J. Willis, for work on Following Covid Money in Education for EdSource. | 2022

Finalist, 2021 Visual Storytelling awards from Education Writers Association for work on Following Covid Money in Education for EdSource with Daniel J. Willis | 2022

Homepage Layout & Design (statewide, 4th place) for EdSource homepage and Story presentation, Page Layout & Design (small newsroom category, 5th place) for work on Education During Covid: California Families Struggle to Learn by EdSource, at the 2020 California Journalism Awards Digital Contest by the California News Publishers Association | 2021

Story presentation, Page Layout & Design award. Placed 3rd in the small newsroom category for the 2019 California Journalism Awards Digital Contest by the California News Publishers Association, for work on Rural California: An Education Divide by EdSource | 2020

Visual Storytelling award, from Education Writers Association for 2018’s Tainted Taps along with the other members of the data and interactives team at EdSource | 2019

Selected work: