Hi! I am Modesta Zemgulyte – a graphic designer with a focus on digital marketing design and motion graphics. I'm always up to new challenges, keen to learn, and never shy away from asking those "stupid" questions.
Redefining The Economist's journalism through social media
Digital design, animation & illustration • 2019-2020 Team: Stephen Petch, Michael Arnold, Nicoletta Belardinelli Awards: Best Use Of Social Media 2020, International News Media Association
Between 2019 and 2020 I worked as a digital designer at The Economist to establish the visual identity of its social media channels. The aim was not only to help it stand out but also bring formats that the Social team could use without any help from a designer. During my time working on the feed we saw our engagement increase dramatically and hit 5+ million followers. Through a combination of animated and illustrated Instagram Stories, accompanied by music and interactive tools, we brought data-driven stories to life on The Economist'sInstagram account. You can explore these Stories in the highlights section.
Animated Instagram stories
My daily tasks at The Economist included visualing and, often, animating articles to post on Instagram Stories. Together with the team, we had made full use of the Stories feature for effective visual storytelling, audience engagement to bring data-driven stories to life on Instagram. A variety of animated and illustrated Instagram Stories accompanied by music and native interactive tools can be found on The Economist's Instagram account in the highlights section.
Instagram grid
A big part of my time at The Economist was introducing flexibility and accessibility into Intagram feed template layouts. We held workshops for the Social team and gave them a brand guidelines document. With this knowledge and resource, they were able to easily mix and match layouts themselves to create engaging narratives on the fly from a range of templates.
US Election 2020
During the 2020 US Election, The Economist launched the "Checks and Balance" newsletter and podcast to provide comprehensive coverage of the election. Released every Friday, the newsletter showcased the best election-related content from The Economist’s weekly edition and its digital platforms. The 30-minute Checks and Balance podcast featured three Economist journalists as hosts, accompanied by a diverse group of correspondents from around the world. To promote the podcast and newsletter, we extensively utilized social media and introduced a new format: audiograms featuring snippets from the podcast.
