blog/Cartography

Weaving together plants and people: developing a touchscreen installation for the Exploratorium

| 04.04.23

¡Plantásticas! is now open at the Exploratorium! This exhibit introduces visitors to the world of plants through a diversity of perspectives, and features an installation by Stamen design. The Exploratorium came to Stamen with two rich sets of data: the lived experience of plants through the eyes of Latinx and Indigenous communities, and high resolution...

Field Papers by MaptimeLA

A New Home for Field Papers

| 03.28.23

By Jess Beutler (OpenStreetMap US) and Alan McConchie (Stamen Design)  OpenStreetMap US is excited to announce the adoption of Field Papers into the suite of tools we support for the larger OSM community. Over the course of 2023, Stamen and OpenStreetMap US will be working together on this transition and develop a plan for sustainable...

Connecting the Dots: How Data Products and Design Help Address Systemic Threats

The myriad and complex challenges of addressing climate change can feel overwhelming, but when you combine the wealth and power of data available with communication strategies, it becomes possible to imagine a future where we are valuing conservation, relying on renewables, promoting efficient industrial, consumer, and agricultural processes, and not pumping greenhouse gasses and pollutants...

Pollinate Ep. 16- Mamata Akella & Collaborating with Maps

| 03.09.23

Collaborative tools for work and everyday life are more important now than ever before. Cartographer Mamata Akella brings “mapmaking thinking” to Felt, a fresh mapping platform that allows people to create maps together in real-time. With a portfolio of projects ranging from The National Park Service to Esri, Mamata has been a force in shaping...

Visualizing critical disaster data with ReadyMapper

| 03.08.23

With climate-related natural disasters on the rise, it has become increasingly obvious that we lack the tools to provide useful information as crises unfold—the venn diagram of crucial data and real-time communication has painfully little overlap. Since early 2022, Stamen has had the pleasure of working with CrisisReady and Direct Relief to create ReadyMapper, an...

Data Hierarchy Best Practices to Elevate Your Data Visualizations

| 03.02.23

At its very core, data visualization has two main components: representation and interaction.

When Creating a Digital Map, Know Your Options

| 02.23.23

Digital maps are everywhere. Through real-time data feeds and integrations, maps can turn into comprehensive multi-purpose tools within your organization, as well as a core part of operations, logistics, and customer-facing products. Geospatial analysis and location intelligence is a business priority for all industries, including governmental agencies, non-profit organizations, telecommunications groups, manufacturing and retail. At...

2022!

| 02.22.23

Remote dataviz & maps in the cloud 2022 was our first full year at Stamen being really remote. We’ve been out of our beautiful San Francisco office since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, which I’ve reflected on before, but for the first year or two, we all assumed being remote was temporary. 2021 saw...

Announcing the Inaugural OSM Oscars!

| 02.21.23

At Stamen, we love OpenStreetmap. I mean we REALLY love it. We’ve used it in several of our mapping projects. We want to share our enthusiasm for OSM and continue to foster a culture of map knowledge-sharing and collaboration. And with that… We are pleased to announce the first ever OpenStreetMap Oscar awards! While awards...

Pollinate Ep. 15- Tanya Ruka & Mapping Native Lands

| 02.09.23

Cartography is a powerful tool for understanding the world and our place within it, but sometimes maps conceal more than they reveal. Throughout much of the history of cartography, maps have been used to forcibly claim territory and exploit the land, erasing the histories and claims of the people who lived there before. Native Land...