Amanda Northrop earned her BFA in Graphic Design from GVSU, where her love of color theory, hand lettering, printmaking, and infographics flourished. Born and raised in Grand Rapids, MI, her family frequently enjoyed spending time on the beaches of The Great Lakes. Throughout her education, she grew eager to use new skills in ways that connected her to the community. In 2012, Amanda was thrilled to join the award-winning climate journalists at Circle of Blue in Traverse City as a design intern, where her collaborations regarding the global water crisis were presented at The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

Upon graduating, Amanda freelanced for local clients in education and entertainment until a role with Vox’s Snapchat Discover team brought her to Washington, DC ahead of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. She learned quickly how to produce graphics at the speed of breaking news, becoming Vox’s first Social Graphics Designer and later, Editor. Projects like “Weather 2050“, “Supertrees“, and “25 Episodes that Changed Television” were amongst her favorites as they required the most cross-team collaboration and distinctive creative expression.

Amanda is frequently reminded of her favorite musician and travel writer, Neil Peart’s mantra: “What is the most excellent thing I can do today?”.Amanda is thankful every day to live in a place as lovely as Las Vegas, a community with no shortage of those “excellent things” from which to choose. In her free time, she loves exploring the city and nearby National Parks with her fiancé, playing drums, and gardening in the backyard with the assistance of renowned horticulturalist, Vino the cat.