Positivity

Recently, it has been hard to be positive about things going on in the workplace, but I have learned that while it might suck for a while (overworked, layoffs, etc.), having a positive outlook on things can only make it better. So, instead of whining about the bad, I am going to show you some of the good. A new project!

One of our business writers has started a new series, which I got the opportunity to bring to life. Each monthly piece will be about a different part of Savannah's real estate market. The idea is to give readers an idea of where to move, the amenities you'd get there and what's close by. It is a concept that just screamed huge infographic to me, so I got to toughen my Illustrator chops a little. We are two months into the series, so I have two clips to show you.

The first:

And the second:

The first one had a lot of things to map, so it looks a little more finished, but the second one shows just what the godley area is: suburbia. I also added a little county map to show where the area was in respect to the rest of the city.

I spent a lot of time developing the concept of a huge map and laying out all othe bits and pieces. It got rave reviews in the newsroom. So, what do you guys think?

Day 11 – Make-up bag? Really?

Yesterday, I was supposed to write a blog about what is in my make-up bag, but how freaking lame is that? So, I am going to brainstorm a bit by blogging about my upcoming Jimmy Carter Flash project. It was my idea to come up with something to present to the world either before he dies or in the wake of his death. Carter is a former governor of Georgia, and he even announced his bid for presidency at a local restaurant in Savannah. I wanted to do something that would honor his memory, and we have been collecting a lot of things pertaining to him.

• More than 100 AP and local photos of him throughout his life and political career.
• A timeline of the books he has published along with book covers. (He has actually written a lot of books.)
• A general timeline of his life
• And a lot of back issues and archived stories the Savannah Morning News has written about him.

My job, now, is to figure out how to organize the material in a cohesive, yet aesthetic, way. I don't know if I should make the project HTML- or Flash-based, and I am at a loss of how to even start this huge thing. I know I want a timeline of events – with photos included – but I think the book timeline is a little much. I want a way to view the photos at pretty decent size and be able to scroll through them, too. It looks like this is going to be a huge project.