design, web & content design
America’s Worst Charities

Had the pleasure to design the landing page and packaging for this ambitious project by the enterprise team of the Tampa Bay Times. America’s Worst Charities brings to light disturbing practices by funds raisers across the nation. In many cases only a small fraction of the funds raised actually go to the intended causes, and some of those charities themselves are little more than a network set up by groups who run both the soliciting phone banks and the “cause,” thus keeping most of the funds collected in service and salary fees.

This report was the result of a yearlong collaboration between the Tampa Bay Times and California-based Center for Investigative Reporting, the nation’s largest and longest serving nonprofit newsroom dedicated to watchdog journalism. CNN also participated the partnership. Leading the investigation were the Times’ Kris Hundley and Kendall Taggart from CIR. Bill Higgins of the Times led the development on a database on the 50 worst offenders, a database of state-by-state citations, and a tool for consumers to report suspicious charities.

design, graphics, interactive design, web & content design
The Last Voyage of the Bounty

Catching up on “Recent Projects” today. We have been working intensively for several weeks on an amazing story by Michael Kruse – The Last Voyage of the Bounty. The three day series published in the Tampa Bay Times and on tampabay.com, marking the anniversary of the sinking of the Bounty last October. The Bounty was overcome by mechanical failures as it faced Hurricane Sandy and sank off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

The replica of the HMS Bounty had originally been commissioned and built for the ’60s movie Mutiny on the Bounty with Marlon Brando. Over the years, the Bounty played cameo parts in other movies, including Pirates of the Caribbean. The ship also became a living museum, teaching many about wooden tall ships and the days of sailing adventures at sea. Bounty was a long-time attraction off the Pier here in St. Petersburg, Florida. A wannabe sailor myself, I remember taking my kids to see her when they were little, just after we moved down to the area. She always captured my imagination.

Unfortunately, as Hurricane Sandy threatened last year, the ship’s captain chose to sail, hoping to outrun the storm and avoid it altogether. Many have said that in a storm, a ship is safer at sea than in port where it can be battered mercilessly agains the docks and piers. Sadly, Sandy proved to be a monster storm that overcame the old ship when many of its aging systems failed. The captain and one crew member were lost. Sandy went on to destroy and even reshape the shores of New Jersey.

An amazing voyage, as told by Michael Kruse, with stunning illustrations by Don Morris that dramatically capture those critical moments. In video interviews by Maurice Rivenbark, surviving crew members recall the unfathomable events of their odyssey. I had the pleasure of collaborating on the design of this presentation, graphics and inter actives with Alexis Sanchez. This is the tale of the beloved ship, her crew and their last ill-fated voyage.

See the archived interactive report.

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Related link: Illustrating the tall ship

design, interactive design, web & content design
Vanishing Wetlands interactive report

Screengrabs of an interactive in-depth report on the vanishing Florida wetlands – brings to light the troubling loss of natural areas and various species decimated by development – prepared for TampaBay.com. Featuring stunning photography by Lara Cerri, reporting by Craig Pitman and Mathew Waite, and contributions by a larger news team.