Category: Portfolio

Published in The Washington Post, July 19, 2010

Role: Design, programming

This graphic visualizes the redundancy and relationships in Top Secret America. Specifically, it shows which government organizations do what types of top-secret work, and how many companies they work with. The centerpiece is the color-wheel, which allows users to sort the government organizations in three different ways. It also has individual views of each government organization, work type, and a couple dozen companies. It is all dynamically drawn, fullscreen capable, and utilizes deep linking. For a more complete description, visit my blog. I also helped Nathaniel Kelso with the map for the project, particularly some of the design work and the motion graphics, which I blogged about here.

Tools used: Flash/ActionScript 3.0, Adobe Illustrator, JavaScript, After Effects, Google Maps API

Awards: WHNPA Eyes of History 2011: 2nd Place for Multimedia Package (In-Depth) , 2010 George Polk Award in Journalism (Category: National Reporting), SXSW Finalist for Technical Achievement, Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting Finalist

In the news: Fast Company infographic of the day, Infosthetics: Visualizing the National Security Buildup

Published in The Washington Post, October 3, 2009

For this story about a battle in a remote part of Afghanistan that had greater implications for the war there, reporter Greg Jaffe came to us with a ton of found videos, photo and audio. I came up with the idea to do a horizontal pane timeline that would allow us to integrate all the media into one experience instead of breaking it up into several pieces. I built this horizontal scrolling interface, which has video and audio players embedded in it. I also designed and laid out all the photography and text in the piece. I think it has a simple and easy user interface, which drives interaction with the multimedia items inside the project.

Role: Design, programming

Tools used: Flash/ActionScript 3.0 with audio and video players, Adobe Photoshop, CSS

Awards: Bronze, Malofiej 18; WHNPA Eyes of History 2010: 2nd place for Best Multimedia Package (Simple); SND Quarterly (Winter 2009)

Published in The Washington Post, August 2012

I have been wanting to do a Twitter project for a while, and this time all the pieces fit together. After I pitched the idea, Cory Haik coordinated a partnership with VoterTide, a great company in Omaha that does aggregation and analysis of Twitter trends specifically around politics, that made the Twitter analysis segment possible. I designed the piece, and we were able to get two awesome developers, Leslie Passante and Jeremy Bowers, to build it. My favorite things are the ‘watch highlights’ view, where you can see all the Post analysis and skip everything else, and the addition of the social layer. Read more on my blog.

Role: Design

Related: Debate version!

In the news: Poynter

Published in The Washington Post, December 2011

This card game is a fun way to expose all our Fact Checker columns. People can choose their own ratings and see past ratings for candidates. I designed and developed the main game, as well as the widgetized version of it that lives in the politics section.

Role: Design, programming

Tools used: Javascript, CSS

More games: D.C. Budget Game, Make a royal match, How well are you aging?, Washington Metro art

Published in The Washington Post, September 18, 2011

This piece looks at all the tax breaks on the books in the United States, how much they cost and when they went into effect. It breaks down all the tax expenditures by category and value and highlights important movements. I created the charting, interaction and design of the javascript visualization at the top of the page. We focused a lot on adding an annotation layer to this piece, so it’s not just a deep data dive. While the granular information is there, it is secondary to the analysis we are providing. Read more here.

Role: Design, programming

Tools used: JavaScript, jQuery, CSS

More charts: Where are the jobs?

Published in The Washington Post, December 3, 2009

This map shows the change in unemployment rate over time on county, state and national levels. This was a quick-turnaround project — the initial version was done in two days, with about three days of upgrades. I imported simplified county shapes into Flash, and built all the functionality and the interface, which includes charting for U.S. and state unemployment rate. It also has historical unemployment data that lets users go back and see how their county has fared for the past two years. It features zooming and panning, as well as quick-select menus on the right side. We’ve also highlighted certain regions, so when you click on those you get a detailed analysis and a zoomed in view.

Role: Design, programming, research

Tools used: Flash/ActionScript 3.0, MaPublisher

Awards: SND Quarterly (Winter 2009)

Published in The Washington Post, April 18, 2009

This project recreates the scene where DeOnte Rawlings was shot, and tries to lend clarity to what happened (there was debate about whether police had reason to shoot at him or not). Alex Garcia had shot some panoramas of the scene, so instead of just having them in a gallery, I suggested that we try to create a 3-D crime scene timeline, by using Flash Panorama Player’s hotspot technology. I had only used it once before so it took some time to set up, but I really like the effect. It gives a great sense of place and is a really powerful storytelling tool.

Tools used: Flash/ActionScript 3.0 and Flash Panorama Player, CSS

Role: Design, programming

More of my panorama projects:
• Egypt Panoramas (panorama template)

More investigative design:
•Two worlds, On the trail of a serial rapist, Fatal flights

Published in The Washington Post, February 26, 2010

This project was a video snapshot of a trip to India I went on last year. It features over 20 short videos in a player I built and designed. It autoplays from one video to the next, and allows users to jump forward and back using thumbnails, a map, or a dropdown list. It is a variation on the series player I created for Scene In, a fashion series on Washington, D.C.

Role: Design, programming

Tools used: Flash/ActionScript 3.0, CSS

Awards: SND Quarterly (Spring 2010)

More video projects:
• 9:30 Club turns 30
• Scene In

Published in The Washington Post, July 19, 2009

This project focuses on five major prison camps in North Korea, which are becoming more and more visible through the availability of satellite imagery. We highlight the camps and give a close-up view of camp 15, one of the biggest camps. I did research for this graphic, and designed and built the interface, which features some really cool maps by Laris Karklis, a Post cartographer.

Role: Design, programming, research

Tools used: Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash/ActionScript 3.0, CSS

Awards: SND Quarterly (Fall 2009)

From the Carolina Photojournalism Workshop, March 2006

I did the photography and audio for this piece about a mud-racing mechanic on the eastern shore of North Carolina. I spent several days with Critter at his shop, at home and out and about in Newport. He’s an incredible character and he gave me an open look into his life. To watch, go here and click “Critter.”

Role: Photography, audio

Tools used: Canon 30D, ProTools, Soundslides

In the news: Endeavors Magazine

More of my photography:
• Atacama Stories: Hand-hewn Copper (Select “Mining” and then “Hand-hewn copper”)