Form & Function

Design permeates everything I do. In search of elegant solutions to real-world problems, it shapes my furniture, dictates the structure of my code, and guides my presentation of complex ideas. I have yet to find that perfect balance between form and function, but the aspiration drives much of what I do.

You can find variations on the above Partisan Fail here, select media coverage here, and an online store here.
ABOVE: The Science of Cooking, picturing members of the Lexington High School Science Department and Albert Einstein. The Science of Cooking is a cookbook sold by the Lexington Science Department to raise money for its science teams. LEFT: Norman Rockwell's Freedom from Want.
This website showcases some of my favorite works. To the left, you'll find a representation of my frustration with partisan gridlock, inspired by Twitter's fail whale and the 2011 struggle over raising the debt ceiling. It actually gained a modest amount of media coverage. In 2012, it served as the foundation for the one-off webpage Is The Fiscal Cliff Fixed.com. The site was an Easter Eggs on the Quartz New feature Has the US gone off the fiscal cliff?

At the top of the right column, you'll find my take on a suggestion from Matthew Inman (the Oatmeal) on how to get more likes on Facebook. Hint: George Washington + bald eagle + robots = awesome.

Below Washington, you'll find I &e Flow Charts. The title and caption pretty much say it all.

To the left again, you'll find The Science of Cooking. It's a cookbook the Lexington Science Department sells to raise money for its science teams (e.g., Science Olympiad and Science Bowl). I modeled it on Norman Rockwell's iconic Freedom from Want. I swapped in our department chair and Einstein for the matriarch and patriarch of the family with various science teachers seated around the table.

In the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting, I produced the Venn Diagram in the right column in an attempt to gain some insight into how the prevalence of guns and mental illness in America relate to homicides, suicides and accidental deaths. Click through for my sources and assumptions.

Elsewhere on the site, you might enjoy the Wandering Stars for its visual layout, my Craftsman persona for some derivative yet pleasing designs, and a number of the Tabletop Explainer episodes for their visual depiction of information. How to Navigate by the Sun, Electricity & Magnetism Hand Rules, How to Build a Simple Electric Motor, and What is the Conservation of Angular Momentum? all try their hand at presenting some complicated ideas through visuals.

And of course, don't forget this website. I had a lot of fun building it.