BILL RAMSEY

GRAPHIC DESIGNER & WRITER

Bill Ramsey is a graphic designer and writer living in Chattanooga, Tennessee, specializing in newspaper, magazine and book design.
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DESIGN

Newspaper design has been my lifelong passion and a rewarding career. I’ve been devoted to the presentation of the news in print, the marriage of typography, the grid and imagery, since the mid-1980s. I began as a military journalist, pasting up base newspapers, but left the service to find a home in alternative newsweeklies as a production manager, designer and art director in San Antonio, Charlottesville, Cleveland and Chattanooga. I graduated to daily newspapers in the early 2000s, winding my way from Louisiana to California, Alabama to Tennessee. I simply love what I do and hope to practice my craft for the rest of my career. Along the way, I became a quick study of AP Style, a skilled copy editor and news editor. This versatility has allowed me to continue in print journalism even as the industry’s shelf life continues to expire. I believe there will always be an audience for the print newspaper. They provide the most succinct encapsulation of local, national and world news in one package — an excellent daily briefing in a hectic, 24-hour news cycle that can overwhelm many people. And as long as print newspapers exist, there will be a place for good designers and copy editors. My own philosophy is simple: create attractive, eye-catching designs that guides the eye of the reader through the story.

Chattanooga Times Free Press

Memphis Commercial Appeal

Alabama Newspaper Group

DESIGN

For many years, I happily toiled in the art departments of alternative newsweeklies around the country, from San Antonio to Cleveland, and finally Chattanooga. The alt-weeklies suffered the most of print papers because of internet classifieds and then the pandemic. A good group still survive and it is the period of my career I’m most fond of. There’s something special about the people who write and create them, and their connection to their cities. Even the salespeople were outrageously entertaining.