Visual


Four iphones in a row on a yellow background. In the first from left, a Black man dressed as Ben Franklin smiles. In the second, a white young man rides a digitally drawn surfboard. In the third, a small child hiccups. In the fourth, a Black woman speaks in the foreground with a white woman in the background.

Yes, you can cram your story into a one-minute TikTok. Here’s how

Writing a script for a social video means paring down your piece to the barest minimum that still makes sense.

People in rowboats fish as they float on blue water. Golden fish congregate around a star attached to the fishing line of the person in the center.

A beginner’s guide to hooking audiences with Instagram Reels

Instagram’s answer to TikTok, Reels are vertical videos that can last up to a minute. They can engage your existing Instagram audience and expand your reach to new users.

A beginner’s guide to spatial audio in 360-degree video

A team at NPR is experimenting with immersive video and audio — and has tips on recording, editing, building a rig and more.

6 things I learned planning a video shoot

Embarking on a video project? Keep these things in mind.

What improv lessons taught us about live video

“Yes and …” yourself to success!

How to hire an editorial illustrator

Commissioning an illustrator can be confusing if you haven’t done it before.

These are NPR’s photo caption guidelines

Captions give photos context, telling viewers what’s going on in a photo so they don’t have to guess or jump to conclusions.

A handy guide to making awesome photos

When you understand the three fundamentals of photography — content, composition and light — you can create better images.

A guide to making better images with your iPhone

It would be nice if we all had professional photographers in our pockets … but we just have phones.

How to ‘interview’ a big pile of data

When confronted with a big pile of data, these tips will help you find sense in the numbers, find story ideas, and ask further questions.

How to make photos and radio at the same time

To do a good photo essay – while you’re also doing a radio piece – requires lateral thinking on the fly.

Open copyright: How to find images, music and audio

How do Creative Commons licenses work — and how can you get sweet, sweet free art and sound with them?

So you wanna tell a visual story … where do you begin?

The first step is not deciding what you want to make. It’s figuring out what you want to say — and finding the best medium.

5 tips for making better images

Be patient. Let go of the mic. And three other tips make five.

Tips for making storytelling portraits (it’s not just a headshot)

Pictures of the characters in your story will help readers connect with your work — and you can capture them on a phone.

How to find great pictures for your stories

When it comes to stories on the web, strong photos can really help your story resonate with your audience. So make your story sing (sans sound).