NY Times announces two new promotions in features design

The following excerpt announcement was sent out by The New York Times:

Mary Jane Callister will take on the role of deputy director of features design, a recognition of her outsized contributions. She’s been a creative force behind some of our most impactful projects. Working closely with Andrew Sondern, Mary Jane helped shape not just the visual identity of the section, but the content itself. This collaboration between edit and design created the section’s distinctive voice, expressing our journalistic intentions and values in every choice.

The section, which has been warmly embraced by readers, was recently recognized by the Society of Publication Designers. In her new role, Mary Jane will help lead special projects, sections and redesigns, while helping refine our work across the culture and lifestyle report.

Mary Jane started working at The Times in 2017 with the brand team after a successful run designing illustrated books for publishers such as Knopf and Abrams. This followed a 10-year run at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, where she was the deputy design director, art directing its flagship magazine as well as books and special issues. She began her design career working with the creative director Louise Fili, where she developed the passion for typography that is so evident in her work today.

We are also excited to share that Felicia Rene Vasquez has been promoted to staff. Felicia joined the team as part of the Fellowship program in 2019 and quickly got to work designing sections such as Real Estate, Science, Travel and Arts & Leisure. She also helped produce and design a Styles special section devoted to Wellness and a Sunday Business examination of the decade in tech.

For the past several months, Felicia has played a critical role with the At Home team, coordinating production between design, edit, advertising and the features Print Hub. Her steady hand, excellent communication skills and keen design eye have been invaluable and we’re happy to have her join the features design team officially as a staff editor.

Felicia graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in communications design. Before The Times, she interned at Major League Baseball, USA Today and UNESCO in Florence, Italy.