Tag: Philadelphia
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I Prefer My Smoke in My Scotch
Another July day, another heatwave in Philadelphia. But this time we have the added bonus of Canadian wildfire smoke—apparently we call them wildfires and not forest fires now? Just last summer the US administration pointed the finger at Canada for not doing more to prevent and contain these wildfires, but I would humbly suggest that…
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Just a Wee Bit Warm
This past weekend was a hot one in Philadelphia (and many other places across the eastern United States). As we enter July, the Philadelphia Inquirer published an article examining climate change’s impact on summer temperatures. Spoiler: it’s hotter. The article included two interactive line charts. The first one plotted the average high temperature of July…
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The Broad Street Run
This past weekend, Philadelphia hosted the Broad Street Run, a 10-mile run from the “top” of the city’s Broad Street in the north to the end at the bottom in the Navy Yard, a length of—you guessed it—10 miles. And congratulations to my sister for not just running it for the first time, but completing…
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The Arrow Is Pointing Sideways
I was reading an article in my local rag, the Philadelphia Inquirer, when I came upon an article about the healthcare industry’s outsized role in the region’s job growth. The article led off with a staff illustration of medical-looking types on a graphic swirl background—nothing inherently wrong with that. The Inquirer would know best what…
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Just a Thought About a Thing That’s Been Nipping at Me
The democratisation of design tools ostensibly allows people to create high-quality graphics. But I think we can all admit to ourselves we see a lot of work that…misses its mark. As a general rule, I do not often post work here by untrained designers. My peers and I have the benefit of education and experience…
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The Philadelphia Beat is Pretty Big
Early last week I read an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer about where the city’s police officers live, an important issue given the city’s loose requirement they reside within the city limits. Whilst most do, especially in the far Northeast, the Northwest, and South Philadelphia, a significant number live outside the city. (The city of…
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Tarnished Linings
Last month the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) ordered Philadelphia’s public transit system, SEPTA, to inspect the backbone of its commuter rail service, Regional Rail: all 225 Silverliner IV railcars. The Silverliner IV fleet, aged over 50 years, suffered a series of fires this summer and the NTSB investigators wanted them inspected by the end…
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Boy, Does That Stink
(Editor’s note, i.e. my post-publish edit: The subject matter, not the work.) Last week the Philadelphia Inquirer published an article about the volume of sewage discharged into the region’s waterways over nearly a decade. It cited a report from Penn Environment, which claimed 12.7 billion tons of sewage enter the Delaware River’s watershed. I clicked…
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A New Downtown Arena for Philadelphia?
I woke up this morning and the breaking news was that the local basketball team, the 76ers, proposed a new downtown arena just four blocks from my office. The article included a graphic showing the precise location of the site. For our purposes this is just a little locator map in a larger article. But…