Alumni Story: Adding Dimension to Visual Stories

Larry Buchanan

In 2012, Larry Buchanan was working as a freelance print journalist, but limited in the types of stories he could tell. “I wanted to tell visual stories, combining text, image and data, and I figured learning to code would help me do that,” he said. To learn how to create new ways of narration, he turned to our full-time Web Development Immersive program in NYC, where he learned essential skills like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and more.

After graduating, he landed a freelance role creating interactive graphics for The New Yorker. Then, The New York Times came a-knocking: Buchanan now serves as a graphics editor there, joining journalistic know-how with creative coding to tell visual stories. “We combine text, images, data, video, animation, 3-D models, and illustration, to help readers understand the news through maps, charts, diagrams and interactive pieces,” he said. “I barely knew how to code when I started at GA, but now it's an integral part of my job.”