The fundamentals of drawing, creativity and technology merge with journalism skills such a reporting, editing and research.
Please Touch Museum (Kali’s Story)
The story of a girl who lives across from Memorial Hall in Fairmount Park finds a book and a magic mirror in her attic. The items take her to a special and imaginary place.
Over the course of a few months a group of us would meet for an hour once a week. We created a microsite complete with a story and interactive surprises. The PTM was taking a giant step moving into the building that was the centerpiece of this country’s Centennial celebration in 1876. The history wrapped in current exhibits was a fountain of visuals. I explored city archives for reference, visited sculptor’s studios, worked with contractors during site renovation, and presented with the lead reporter on numbers and funding for the new museum..
A Force of Nature
The Gulf Stream, set in motion by the sun, trade winds and the Earth’s rotation, meanders across the North Atlantic for about 3,000 miles before it slows and disperses. This part of our global oceanic current system was one of my scientific visual-reporting projects for The Inquirer. I interviewed geophysical researchers who deploy the buoys that are collecting data or the meteorologists who know the current intimately. I designed the digital as well as print graphics.
Winter plumage
The Incredible Red Knot
Birds do it, bees do it and during the full moon in June every year Horseshoe Crabs spawn on Delaware and New Jersey beaches providing the food and energy for an endangered bird to recharge after flying non-stop for four days from South America. The shorebird's spring migration continues to Canadian nesting grounds. Local scientists study the journey of global proportions. Between reading books, interviewing the experts and the reporter who had become an expert, as well as walking the moonlit shores of Delaware I learned about his migration and the danger of both species.
Que Creek Miners’ Rescue
A final perilous journey was ahead of the miners as one-by-one they were lifted the height of a 20-story building in a basket 19 inches wide inside.
Watching a press conference on TV, I identified this useful handout and had a staff photographer send it back to the newsroom. We had been following and creating graphics for days. So much information in a simple hand-drawn diagram, everything I needed.
Penn’s Landing Panorama
Getting an idea off the ground before drones were common place to illustrate another Inga Saffron project.
A Smart Dummy
Graphic was drawn from verbal descriptions and visual clues to conceptualize an experimental device.
High-Altitude Data Collection
While the reporter and photographer traveled to Hawaii to fly with NOAA researchers, I produced a representation of the dropsondes used to collect jet stream data high above the Pacific Ocean. These flights drop measuring devices through our atmosphere that contribute to more accurate weather predictions, weeks in advance.