One of the secret weapons that many graphic designers have is an eye for typography or “fonts” for the layman. Typography drives almost all of the good design you see. It drives EVERY great brand, think Coca Cola. That’s some strong type. Typography and web development however are not necessarily married even though they shouldRead… Read more »
With solar energy gaining popularity, cities require ways to measure the potential benefits of implementation. Solar City is a web-based application that uses Esri mapping software to calculate solar potential for rooftops. The project aims to raise awareness about the potential use of solar panels in your neighborhood and community. With this tool, basic calculationsRead… Read more »
As part of the Open Government Partnership, Transparency & Accountability Initiative recently published a new report on current best practices and the practical steps for opening government. The report details the state of the art in transparency, accountability and citizen participation across 15 areas of governance, ranging from broad categories such as access to information,Read… Read more »
By this point I’ve participated in quite a few hackathons, app competitions, coding days and data camps, and have even helped throw one. From the outset, the first installment in the Gray Area Foundation for the Arts (GAFFTA) Summer of Smart hackathon had a different feel. Billed as a “hackathon for everyone”, the fine folksRead… Read more »
Trust is a valuable thing online, and being able to know that the information you’re receiving is reliable and accurate is difficult yet essential — especially so for government websites, where people go for critical information, like health services and public safety. That’s why it was great to see the federal government roll out 1.USA.govRead… Read more »
The back story: In February, CfA Fellows gathered to discuss the branding of the organization, mostly just to orient ourselves to it. One of the ways I like to do this with any brand is to do a word association exercise. I like to start by writing down obvious words (government, technology, etc.) then moveRead… Read more »
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to sit down with one of our 2011 Fellows, Mjumbe Poe and talk about life, technology and Code for America. I did a video about Karla Macedo, another fellow, a few months ago, and getting to know each of these fellows better better, and share their perspectiveRead… Read more »
John Mertens and I wound up on a collision course in San Francisco’s Chinatown last Saturday. Without knowing it, both of us were headed to the neighborhood to take a photo of the Banksy near Columbus and Broadway for our project, www.artmapper.com — our pilot test to build a mobile community of curators for aRead… Read more »
During our last Labs Friday, Andrew Sliwinski led an Arduino workshop at the CfA office. Arduino is an electronic prototyping platform that allows even amateur hackers (like me) to create cool, interactive electronic objects. From blinking lights (Arduino’s version of “Hello world”) to wireless air climate sensors, there was something to learn for beginners andRead… Read more »
Back in March, Philadelphia’s DoT ask us to take a look at the website for Philly’s 4th of July celebration, Wawa Welcome America. The design firm that originally had the project did a great job with the design but the Welcome America team was having a difficult time using the CMS (Content Management System). TheyRead… Read more »