Visual Discovery Conference keynote lecture with Fernando Baptista

Join the Visual Discovery Conference for a panel of professors discussing the preservation of traditional visual storytelling during the age of AI at 5:30 p.m., followed by insights from Fernando Baptista from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

How do you make the invisible visible? How do you turn thousands of facts, years of history, scientific research and complex ideas into a visual story that people can understand and remember?

Fernando Baptista knows.

As a senior graphics editor at National Geographic and the recipient of the SND World’s Best Designer award, Baptista has spent nearly two decades transforming the world’s stories into extraordinary visual experiences.

Baptista will pull back the curtain on the ideas, research, artistry and craft behind some of National Geographic’s most remarkable visual stories.

Free and open to the public. Please register on Eventbrite. UNC students can register on Heel Life for CLE credit. All other attendees are encouraged to register on Eventbrite.

The Visual Discovery Conference (VDC) is a student-centered gathering of renowned design schools from around the world. VDC 2026 will take place Oct. 12-16, 2026, hosted by the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.