blog/Process

A Tale of Two Cities’ Maps: Dataviz is a Garden, not Architecture

| 02.26.14

This post is a check on both our ambitions and our processes. The uses of data visualization are different according to whether the goal is to communicate a specific thought for a single moment, e.g. as a poster, or the goal is to provide a durable tool for social change. It should be mighty safe...

Surging Seas is an Atlantic Favorite Map Of The Year

| 12.20.13

Today, The Atlantic Cities published their favorite maps of the year, and our work with Climate Central on Surging Seas tops the list: “the most frightening, important maps of the year come from Climate Central’s Surging Seas project, which offers an interactive map of all coastal areas of the Lower 48. In the discussion of...

New Work: Get Thee to a Park!

| 12.17.13

We’re pleased to announce a new project for the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. We’ve redesigned and built a new map, and trail visualizations to help people get to the parks in the Bay Area. Since 1981 — in partnership with the National Park Service and Presidio Trust — this local non-profit has provided over $250 million in support...

Pinterest has maps! By us!

| 11.21.13

When I first discovered Pinterest about two years ago, my heart exploded and my mind was blown in the best possible way. One simple interface allows me to visually browse all of the beautiful stuff I find on the internet and beyond, and to organize it how I please. It feels friendly & welcoming — a place...

Field Papers in the field

| 11.19.13

Thing 1: “In September 2013, students in Webutuck High School art classes participated in a mapping workshop where they made maps of their lives — things they did, things they liked, things they didn’t like, and things they’d like to see. They drew the maps on Field Papers, which were scanned, edited, and turned into geotiffs and...

OpenStreetMap: Every Line Ever, Every Point Ever

| 11.06.13

At Stamen we use OpenStreetMap data in most of the maps we make, including our Watercolor, Toner, andTerrain map tiles. OpenStreetMap is a rich and growing dataset that has been created and maintained by hundreds of thousands of volunteers around the world, and at Stamen we wouldn’t be able to do what we do without...

Turning medical data into artful data viz

| 10.02.13

Big data is a big deal, for sure, but small data can be beautiful too. A work of art, even! We’ve been exploring these themes with Wong Doody Crandall Wiener in a new data viz piece in the lobby of Cedars Sinai Medical Center West Hollywood. To house their most state-of-the-art research and outpatient care,...

Stamen maps in Dodocase

| 08.02.13

I’m pleased to announce another product offering from Stamen; to satisfy your map object cravings, we’re partnering with the smarties at Dodocase to bring you custom wooden iPad cases, with maps from themaps.stamen.com project on the inside. For now, they’re available in two styles: a modified version of Toner called Toner-lines and Watercolor, and in...

New & Improved Field Papers!

| 07.10.13

Field Papers is a tool to help you create a multi-page atlas of anywhere in the world. The first version was launched in May of 2012, in partnership with Caerus Associates. In early 2013, we were approached by theU.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to extend Field Papers, and make it more robust. USAID wanted...

How to make 3d maps of Mars

| 06.27.13

Stamen created maps.stamen.com to showcase our cartographic explorations. It’s also a place to stash our mapping experiments (Burning Map; Trees, Cabs & Crime). We recently added a new map: a three-dimensional map of contour lines that compose the surface of Mars. 1. Motivations I started looking for space-related data shortly after hearing news of the...