Chris Zaragoza specializes in project management, creative operations and production.

The New York Times State of The Times 2024
State of The Times is The New York Times’s annual celebration of their people, achievements, strategy and priorities. Across a variety of mediums – short films, posters, tote bags, printed signage, presentations, custom music and even a playlist by Questlove – our creative team pushed the identity further than it was ever pushed before. 

Project management: Chris Zaragoza
Creative direction: Jessi Brattengeier
Motion: CC Studio
Design support: Vivian Dehning
Culture films: Zack Caplan
Custom music: Corduroi
Photography: Caleb Bryant Miller

The New York Times At The Times
We re-envisioned what an employee site needs to be in a remote and hybrid work environment. The new site is a digital home for all employees; a central location to discover what’s happening at The Times, find quick answers and celebrate the work of the organization. 

The project was a cross-team effort between the culture and communications team led by Cynara Charles-Pierre, core publishing team and brand identity team.  

Creative production and content management: Chris Zaragoza
Creative direction: Jessi Brattengeier
Lead designer: Will Mianecki
Project leads: Anke Stohlmann, Lisa Ann Wharton, Anisha Muni
Design support: Henry Desroches
Engineering: AJ Hartley, Avery Williams, Mubashar Iqbal

Manners InstituteCohort 02: Mother Knows Best 
Cohort 02, entitled “Mother Knows Best”, is an ode to Earth’s infinite wisdom — celebrating nature for its knowledge and applying its teachings to inform solutions and a life in tune with one’s self and environment. 

The campaign utilized custom typography, music and a collage approach to harmonize illustrations with nature. The product range spanned cycling jerseys, bibs, socks, bidons and lifestyle tees. 

Creative direction & production: Chris Zaragoza and Erick Torres
Art direction & design: renald Louissant
Illustration, design & music: Jacob Rochester
Photography & video: Aaron Laserna
Design: Yadavi Patel
Athletes: Amardeep Singh and Michael Laguerre
Manners InstituteCohort 01: A Better Tomorrow
Cohort 01, entitled “A Better Tomorrow”, was the inaugural launch collection for Manners Institute. 

When introducing Manners to the world, we wanted to start by reimagining the purpose and opportunity a bicycle offered. From our perspective, the landscape and narrative from cycling brands mainly spoke to the performance and competition aspect of cycling. We believed there was more to celebrate. A tool for community, organizing, meditation and liberation — in essence, a force for good. We posed questions such as: What if we built something different? What if we built it together? What if we were time travelers from a not so distant future? What if this future was the ideal future for humanity? Can we give the present a glimpse at what the future can look like? A Better Tomorrow.

In the spirit of acting as one, the campaign eschewed traditional road cycling narratives and featured both road and fixie riders. The product range spanned cycling jerseys, bibs, socks, bidons and lifestyle tees. 

Creative direction & production : Chris Zaragoza and Erick Torres
Art direction & design: renald Louissant
Motion: CC Studio
Photography: Aaron Laserna for SECONDSIGHT
Video: Cordell Murray for Stay Alive Studio
Athlete: Michael Laguerre
Pyer MossCampaign 1 — “American, Also”
Campaign 1 — “American, Also” went on the road to speak to modern-day cowboys; leaders, organizers and rebels who are working to make a change in their respective communities. 

The Chicago leg of the campaign features Precious Blood Ministry, Ameena Matthews of Violence Interrupters and Good Kid Mad City featuring Vic Mensa. The Baltimore leg features Valencia D. Clay and The Cowgirls of Color. The Los Angeles leg features Angela Rye and The Compton Cowboys. The Brooklyn leg features Nadia Lopez of Mott Hall Bridges Academy. 

Project management: Chris Zaragoza
Creative direction: Kerby Jean-Raymond
 Photography: Rubberband
Artistic direction: Anthony Konigbagbe
Styling: Eric Mcneal
Production: Asha Efia
Hair and makeup: Nigella Miller

Pyer MossCollection 1 — "American, Also"
Collection 1 — “American, Also” aimed to bring light to the unfrequented story of the Black cowboys from the 19th century. With musical direction guided by Raphael Saadiq, the story was tied together by choir sung renditions of Gil Scott-Heron’s ‘Home Is Where the Hatred Is’, Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born In The USA’, and ‘Alright’, by Kendrick Lamar. 

This season marked the commencement of the Reebok by Pyer Moss partnership. A men’s and women’s ready-to-wear apparel collection, accompanied by unisex accessores and footwear, closed the show. 

For the full set of runway looks, click here

Project management: Chris Zaragoza
Creative direction: Kerby-Jean Raymond
Design: Joy Douglas & Jonathan Millner
Event production: Beyond 8
Show direction: Dario Calmese
Casting: Katherine Mateo
Styling: Eric Mcneal
Apparel development: Erick Torres & Brian Girigorie
Ford FoundationCreative Futures 
Creative Futures is a series of 40 provocations by thinkers across the spheres of arts and culture, documentary film, and journalism unfolding throughout the fall of 2020. Creative Futures is reimagining of the fields of arts and culture, documentary film, and journalism, a set of concrete action plans to fuel and shape the transformative possibilities to come. In the words of abolitionist scholar Ruth Wilson Gilmore, “What the world will become already exists in fragments and pieces, experiments and possibilities.” Here are some of those fragments and pieces, experiments and possibilities.

For the complete set of provocations and credits, click here.

Project management: Chris Zaragoza
Creative direction: Victor Ng
Managing editor: Carolyn Bielfeldt
Editorial team: Lawrence-Minh Bùi Davis, Lena Sze, Theo Torre de Castro, Chi-hui Yang
Design & illustration: Lilian Cohen
Ford FoundationThe Future is Hers 
Around the world, women have become an unstoppable force. They are rewriting the rules, redefining power, and reimagining what equality looks like. With their collective power, anything is possible. Inequality will be a thing of the past—the future is hers.

Project management: Chris Zaragoza
Creative direction: Victor Ng
Managing editor: Carolyn Bielfeldt
Design & illustration: Lilian Cohen
Multimedia: Jessica Reynolds & Claire Kinnen
©2025