Experience

Latest Work

Audrey Valbuena











Digital designer and creative developer specializing in systems and storytelling








About


Hey, I’m Audrey – a digital designer, storyteller and developer based in Brooklyn, NY.  I currently work at The Washington Post as a Senior Designer, building custom, interactive storytelling experiences and reusable components for our team’s codebase.

My day-to-day consists of a mix of designing one-off stories, developing aesthetics and components for series of coverage, and long-term systems thinking work. This can look like developing the Try This podcast page, pitching the aesthetic vision for a series like The Collection, or redesigning of The Post’s election results pages ecosystem.

Previously, I worked at The New York Times as an Associate Product Manager on the Design Systems and Accessibility team. There I helped ship dark mode to news apps.  

What carries through all my work is a commitment to creative storytelling, empathetic product decisions, and intentional and accessible design solutions, no matter the product or system. 

Outside of work, I have a ceramic practice under the name Bad Rat Studio. I can usually be found in cafes across Brooklyn deeply engrossed in the latest work of fiction, or crocheting a new granny square during my morning commute. 

Awards & recognition


Pulitzer Awards 2024
  • Finalist, Illustrated Reporting and Commentary, Searching for Maura


SND 45
  • Bronze, Design: Investigative,  Searching for Maura
  • Bronze, Design Investigative, The Collection
  • Bronze, LOC: Investigative or Public Service, The Collection
  • Award of Excellence, Product, Reduced Motion
  • Award of Excellence, Portfolio: Story Page Design



SPD 57
  • Medal Finalist, “Web: Custom Feature Design”, The Queer Quarantine






Selected work


Click on each story block to view the live piece. 
When possible, gift links are used.









Try This: Snackable advice for life’s common challenges (2024)

Role: development
See how a lab grown diamond is made (2024)

Role: pitched quiz modules, design, development
A means of escape: Kickflipping, boardsliding and socializing: Shaw Skate Park is a welcoming “third place.” (2024)

Role: story pitch, design, development
The hidden life of seeds (2024)

Role: design, development
The List: What’s In and what’s out for 2025 (2024)

Role: design, development
Searching for Maura (2023)

Role: development, accessibility testing, alt-text
What counts as an `American name` in a changing nation (2023)

Role: art direction, design, development
For the lonely, tech offers friendship – at a price (2023)

Role: design, development
Revealing the Smithsonian’s `racial brain collection` (2023)

Role: design, development
‘It’s my choice. It’s my life.’: French Muslim women push back on the politics of the hijab (2021)

Role: design, development
The Queer Quarantine: Eleven photographers and one writer on how the pandemic altered lives in the LGBTQ+ community. (2021)

Role: design, development, print design
The Year of Endurance: Hope and uncertainty amid a pandemic that wouldn’t end (2021)

Role: design, development, print design




This site is always a work in progress. It was last updated February 2025.

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