“It’s so confusing to know when people are supposed to quarantine,” a colleague wrote on slack, “it might be helpful to have an explainer… because I really don’t know as a parent.” At the start of the 2021-2022 school year, it seemed as though every school district had its own set of confusing quarantine guidelines. So the editorial staff at Chalkbeat decided to create an easy-to-follow explainer. I worked with reporters and editors to design a simple flowchart that parents could use as a reference. We designed unique flowcharts for three of our bureaus: New York, Chicago, and Detroit.

After publishing, one reader wrote in to say, “I am a NYC public school teacher who has really found your article and diagram helpful… My principal and I thought your diagram would be helpful to families.” Another reader, a parent in Chicago, printed the flowchart out and presented it to the board of education.

Client: Chalkbeat
Category: Illustration
Role: Design