ProPublica announced today that David Sleight, a longtime designer and developer, will join its staff as design director next month.

Sleight worked on some of the first web-based textbooks at Pearson Education, then went on to lead the interactive design team at BusinessWeek.com during two site overhauls. Since 2010, he’s consulted for numerous startups at his Brooklyn design shop, Stuntbox, specializing in user experience and responsive web design. He’s a regular columnist at A List Apart magazine and a member of Readability’s board of advisors. 

“I’m incredibly excited to be joining the team at ProPublica,” Sleight said. “It’s one of the highest-caliber news organizations, doing journalism with real impact. I can’t wait to roll up my sleeves and start building new ways to present that work. 

The design director role is a new one for ProPublica, which aims to heighten its attention to design as it expands.

“We went in search of a visionary who could give our important work the most creative and effective presentation,” said Robin Fields, ProPublica’s managing editor, “and we got that and so much more in David.”