https://lesliegarvey.com Leslie Garvey Wed, 12 Apr 2023 01:00:38 +0000 https://lesliegarvey.com en https://lesliegarvey.com/COVID-19-Relief-Spending-Tracker Sat, 08 Apr 2023 16:47:48 +0000 Leslie Garvey https://lesliegarvey.com/COVID-19-Relief-Spending-Tracker COVID-19 Relief Spending Tracker Some ContextIn the summer and fall of 2020, I was part of a four-person team (in partnership with two external vendors) that launched a COVID-19 Relief Spending Tracker. At a time when billions of dollars were going out the door for pandemic relief, the Project On Government Oversight wanted to shed light on two fundamental questions: Where was this money going? And was it reaching those it was most intended to help? The database included four main parts: Overview, the landing page for the database where users could filter types of federal relief by state, and compare this with data such as unemployment rate, population, and minority population percentage Map View, where users could dig into the data further by state, county, or zip codeTable View, where users could search individual assistance or contract transactions by state, county, zip code, or recipient, in addition to other filtersIndustry Overviews, where users could browse relief spending by industry sector My RoleIn my role as the Project On Government Oversight’s creative director, I joined the team to ensure the database stayed brand-aligned, to project manage creative tasks with our vendors, and to guide the overall design and user experience of the database. Additionally as part of this project, I: took point on vendor research, and found RS-21 and FuseLab Creative, the two external vendors we would end up partnering with for this projectconducted asset research for all photos used in the Industry Overview section of the sitepresented this database at the 2021 OECD Global Anti-Corruption and Integrity Forum and at Data Foundation’s&nbsp;2021 Data Symposiumhelped produce a series of tutorial videos for using the database Impact As a result of our work on the database, the White House’s COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force requested a presentation from the team walking through the database and our lessons learned from the pandemic. The site also won three CSS Design Awards for UI, UX, and Innovation. https://lesliegarvey.com/POGO-Brand-Refresh-and-Site-Migration Mon, 05 Oct 2020 21:23:30 +0000 Leslie Garvey https://lesliegarvey.com/POGO-Brand-Refresh-and-Site-Migration Brand Refresh and Site Migration | POGO Some ContextDuring my time managing the website for the Project On Government Oversight as a digital media manager, I had encountered several pain points with the CMS, a proprietary system that was becoming increasingly slow, prone to error, and lacking in necessary modern features, such as the ability for site-wide encryption (a particular problem given the organization’s work with whistleblowers.) The organization was also due for a website overhaul: POGO, unfortunately, had completed its last redesign right before responsive design came onto the scene and so was running both a mobile and desktop version of the site. When the organization was approached for a large grant in 2017, I made the case to senior leadership that setting aside some of those resources to move to a new CMS — while a major undertaking — was a necessary effort that would allow the website to much better serve the needs of the organization’s mission and readership. My RoleFrom 2017-2018, I led a $160,000 effort with an in-house team of four to overhaul POGO’s visual presence and migrate the organization's website to Craft CMS. I served as project lead on the three major phases of this project: A comprehensive (and first-ever) content audit of POGO’s archival work A branding discovery and refresh with POGO staff, stakeholders, and audienceThe website redesign and content migration, in partnership with an external vendor Content audit I led what would be the first-ever audit of POGO’s content. I made the argument to leadership this was necessary to achieve our SEO goals, though it would mean a significant investment of staff time over the course of several months. Dating back to 1990s, POGO’s thousands of pieces of content had been migrated and reorganized multiple times. The result was that many pages across the site were outdated, broken, missing key links or content, had inconsistent fields or formatting, or were no longer relevant to the organization’s current work and mission. To undertake the content audit, I used Screaming Frog’s SEO Spider Tool to crawl the site. I divided this master file into sections and developed a criteria for the team to be able to evaluate what content we would keep or pull offline for archival use andtrack what needed fixing in order to migrate. <img width="1549" height="1103" width_o="1549" height_o="1103" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d4b6fa99d4267bec44a7aef9bded147dfc35e8d2ce417316d185655f7f5e88f3/Content_Audit.JPG" data-mid="84710941" border="0" data-scale="91" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d4b6fa99d4267bec44a7aef9bded147dfc35e8d2ce417316d185655f7f5e88f3/Content_Audit.JPG" /> It involved many, many spreadsheets. Branding refresh I also led POGO’s first-ever branding process. I knew going into this project that leadership and the board did not wish to substantially change the logo, as it carried significant brand recognition among government audiences. I also anticipated that the design would be shaped in collaboration with whatever external agency we would eventually work with to develop the website. In redesigning the brand, I wanted to unify visual treatments and establish consistency.&nbsp;One key part of this was the identity for three of POGO’s sub-projects: the Center for Defense Information, the Congressional Oversight Initiative, and The Constitution Project. The result of organizational mergers, each of these sub-projects were carrying an existing identity and microsite. In approaching the brand, I worked with stakeholders on how we could preserve these sub-projects while preventing the brand from fracturing its identity across its various content. In-House Discovery To better guide our process with an agency, I undertook an in-house discovery to shape and test some of the bones of the new brand. I led several workshops with POGO staff, stakeholders, and key audience members to understand how the organization was perceived and how it wanted to position itself moving forward.From those workshops and other internal discovery, I learned the organization was looking and willing to make a much bolder step forward in its work as a newsroom and advocacy organization. I presented three visual directions to stakeholders to help further uncover and dig into how this brand would take shape. From those conversations, I created what would become the brand we would eventually share with our external vendor when redesigning the site. &nbsp; <img width="800" height="800" width_o="800" height_o="800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b2102c7ea05f3d2890ee695754bc443b50a0a15d8c62347ac334a1c22c25583b/POGO_Brand_Components.png" data-mid="84765380" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/b2102c7ea05f3d2890ee695754bc443b50a0a15d8c62347ac334a1c22c25583b/POGO_Brand_Components.png" />The new brand, “A Beacon in the Darkness,” was inspired by a bolder, grittier take on POGO’s previous brand. The primary source nature of POGO’s historic and investigative work inspired the tactile distinctive assets and textures used in the brand. The typography and color palette built upon POGO’s previous brand, echoing the bold primary typography and dominant teal and grey colors. <img width="800" height="800" width_o="800" height_o="800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ce6fcb28f8622bfef13d8dd5ad7c473d7a7b4e3a73ba53554538e613818672b5/Subbrands-Formatting.png" data-mid="175019743" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/ce6fcb28f8622bfef13d8dd5ad7c473d7a7b4e3a73ba53554538e613818672b5/Subbrands-Formatting.png" /> For the sub-project identities, blue and purple echoed the previous brands of the Center for Defense Information and The Constitution Project, respectively, as a nod to those sub-projects’ former brand identities. https://lesliegarvey.com/Whistleblowing-Resources Sun, 04 Oct 2020 23:02:24 +0000 Leslie Garvey https://lesliegarvey.com/Whistleblowing-Resources Whistleblowing Resources for Federal Employees Some ContextIn the spring of 2019 — amidst many troubling efforts by the Trump administration to chill government whistleblowers — the Project On Government Oversight launched a campaign to educate and inform federal employees about their whistleblower rights and protections. The campaign included: The launch of a new survival guide for federal employees, both&nbsp;print and online A campaign video A new landing page on the POGO website consolidating and showcasing all of its whistleblower resources in one placeAn 8-part email course, distilling the key points of the survival guideDigital and out-of-home advertisements promoting the landing page My RoleI served as the main project lead and point-of-contact to coordinate timelines and deliverables relating to the campaign launch&nbsp;— both internally across teams and externally to the video, graphic design, and web vendors involved in the project. Additionally as part of this campaign, I: managed a $60,000 budget designed graphics for the survival guide, landing page, and e-course guided the visuals of campaign materials with vendors contributed substantially to scriptwriting for the campaign video collaborated with the survival guide authors on messaging and copy co-authored the 8-part email course 01. Survival guide Originally titled “The Art of Anonymous Activism,” I proposed a title that the authors would eventually choose as the final for the survival guide: “Caught Between Conscience and Career.” I also designed the cover and chapter illustrations for the survival guide. The authors had included epigraphs to set the tone of each chapter, and I incorporated those into these illustrations. In conceptualizing these designs, I was aiming for something that felt unified with the mood, tone, and subject matter of the chapter these illustrations were facing.I also drew from actual primary government sources (for example, unclassified documents and reports) for many of these assets. <img width="1035" height="630" width_o="1035" height_o="630" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e5b53a03f7c7512a3be3dc0cde9149d429689f279cb51a2a20e7916dce5702ec/Caught-between-Conscience-Career_C.jpg" data-mid="174663271" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e5b53a03f7c7512a3be3dc0cde9149d429689f279cb51a2a20e7916dce5702ec/Caught-between-Conscience-Career_C.jpg" /> (Credit: Project On Government Oversight) <img width="1200" height="1776" width_o="1200" height_o="1776" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2c9a7c47ee5aff3d96d990654055535b9f47b6f88588081873e160f1f63ba608/01_CBCC_Introduction.jpg" data-mid="84678554" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2c9a7c47ee5aff3d96d990654055535b9f47b6f88588081873e160f1f63ba608/01_CBCC_Introduction.jpg" /> <img width="1200" height="1776" width_o="1200" height_o="1776" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/639846ec49eb0fd13646071849405ae1f5016242ac8c5c3487479a2bd4a607bf/03_CBCC_Chapter_2.jpg" data-mid="84679016" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/639846ec49eb0fd13646071849405ae1f5016242ac8c5c3487479a2bd4a607bf/03_CBCC_Chapter_2.jpg" /> <img width="1200" height="1776" width_o="1200" height_o="1776" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/383e998b3fd31280216f724f876c571e0c42e03bd895635fc9e3edf37e9e71ba/08_CBCC_Conclusion.jpg" data-mid="84679022" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/383e998b3fd31280216f724f876c571e0c42e03bd895635fc9e3edf37e9e71ba/08_CBCC_Conclusion.jpg" /> I intended for these to be much more bold and colorful than the traditional or expected look of government materials. I’d had a number of conversations with former federal workers who felt that many materials targeted at them left them feeling like drones: they were tired of text-heavy publications with minimal graphics and personality. I also created a number of micro-illustrations to accompany the web and print layout: <img width="800" height="151" width_o="800" height_o="151" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8588d0bc389d405cba8333b619a87ac99a8c41f4f7841af65634580c0a65702d/Advocacy_Partner_Line_Break_800.png" data-mid="84681894" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/8588d0bc389d405cba8333b619a87ac99a8c41f4f7841af65634580c0a65702d/Advocacy_Partner_Line_Break_800.png" /> <img width="800" height="164" width_o="800" height_o="164" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3f9b51d2c3498f3e78aa682ff9d43af33461d7bf7e4af95c712df0a5e1ec48b5/Message_Messanger_Line_Break_800.png" data-mid="84681910" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/3f9b51d2c3498f3e78aa682ff9d43af33461d7bf7e4af95c712df0a5e1ec48b5/Message_Messanger_Line_Break_800.png" /> <img width="800" height="175" width_o="800" height_o="175" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/79c8dc3943b576171bd3d074faff27863b823e4af7d07d0d7d31f489dab9dbca/Whistles_Line_Break_800.png" data-mid="84681919" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/79c8dc3943b576171bd3d074faff27863b823e4af7d07d0d7d31f489dab9dbca/Whistles_Line_Break_800.png" /> <img width="800" height="202" width_o="800" height_o="202" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/db51a3e9d20010a14ba9bfa2c3d9dd470bc84539cf7497f295db000ab77736e5/Retaliation_Employees_800_V3.png" data-mid="84682007" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/db51a3e9d20010a14ba9bfa2c3d9dd470bc84539cf7497f295db000ab77736e5/Retaliation_Employees_800_V3.png" /> <img width="800" height="164" width_o="800" height_o="164" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2317216f4afccde2d832a85bc0185ee61c0cbe5d4cbe56c2782f4da29317cad1/Reporter_Line_Break_800.png" data-mid="84681916" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/2317216f4afccde2d832a85bc0185ee61c0cbe5d4cbe56c2782f4da29317cad1/Reporter_Line_Break_800.png" /> <img width="800" height="117" width_o="800" height_o="117" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9bec0cde1796c60a3126428b8242311e93e32e7c3ef6fee311731b30dfa30538/Gavel_Line_Breaks_800.png" data-mid="84681907" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/9bec0cde1796c60a3126428b8242311e93e32e7c3ef6fee311731b30dfa30538/Gavel_Line_Breaks_800.png" /> <img width="800" height="99" width_o="800" height_o="99" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/57b93d5e938ba9680682cbc4bab5b805e3fad72dd7239f5d05953fbb16108f62/Magnifying_Line_Break_800.png" data-mid="84681909" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/57b93d5e938ba9680682cbc4bab5b805e3fad72dd7239f5d05953fbb16108f62/Magnifying_Line_Break_800.png" /> <img width="800" height="68" width_o="800" height_o="68" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9e3d523da2cd7416d0cfeecb0d17e3a267d83cbe31a2c8f16178ea871a95fe9e/Caution_Line_Break_800.png" data-mid="84681903" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/9e3d523da2cd7416d0cfeecb0d17e3a267d83cbe31a2c8f16178ea871a95fe9e/Caution_Line_Break_800.png" /> <img width="800" height="117" width_o="800" height_o="117" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b6a26ed03ee671274fe55382254a874a007fa7442497197bd8948aa15107f112/Flag_Line_Breaks_800.png" data-mid="84681906" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/b6a26ed03ee671274fe55382254a874a007fa7442497197bd8948aa15107f112/Flag_Line_Breaks_800.png" /> <img width="800" height="164" width_o="800" height_o="164" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/37c013926c3438f9c20eafc1cc0589907d69f929b758c0b91b7defbafc331cc4/Congress_Line_Break_800.png" data-mid="84681904" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/37c013926c3438f9c20eafc1cc0589907d69f929b758c0b91b7defbafc331cc4/Congress_Line_Break_800.png" /> <img width="800" height="100" width_o="800" height_o="100" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/009a9883650353559e1607dae4ae95e054e934a045662631f89183c95d59a9e1/Cursors_Line_Break_800.png" data-mid="84681905" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/009a9883650353559e1607dae4ae95e054e934a045662631f89183c95d59a9e1/Cursors_Line_Break_800.png" /> <img width="800" height="164" width_o="800" height_o="164" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d7f83949aa4412b13847948e547a3eca02b04addc984f2a989c1b32c2660f9b4/Hands_Documents_Line_Break_800.png" data-mid="84681908" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/d7f83949aa4412b13847948e547a3eca02b04addc984f2a989c1b32c2660f9b4/Hands_Documents_Line_Break_800.png" /> 02. Video This video, one of the first pieces to get moving on this campaign, was definitely a challenge in messaging. I found a video agency to work closely with on the scriptwriting, editing, and storyboard process, because it was a goal of the project to strike a careful, nuanced position on whistleblowing throughout this campaign. The risks of whistleblowing, particularly publicly, are high. It is not an act to be taken lightly. The goal of this campaign was to acknowledge those risks and educate around how to navigate them — but without discouraging federal employees from coming forward. With the aim of empowering federal employees, I settled on “be prepared, know your rights” as the overall takeaway from the video. 03. Email course Inspired by similar e-courses I’d subscribed to from InVision and Pew Research Center, I introduced the idea that we could distill the survival guide’s main points into bite-sized articles in a multi-part automated e-course.I co-authored and edited the drafts of each of these chapters and directed the visual direction and layout of the email series. This e-couse would later be featured on Really Good Emails and in Campaign Monitor’s “Best Email Drip Campaign Examples of 2019.”&nbsp; <img width="991" height="1032" width_o="991" height_o="1032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/63efd2fc52a86137f7f89c4453ce2f111e10cf49d578cd19b775f68a03ba218a/Email_Ecourse.png" data-mid="84683939" border="0" data-scale="84" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/991/i/63efd2fc52a86137f7f89c4453ce2f111e10cf49d578cd19b775f68a03ba218a/Email_Ecourse.png" /> 04. Landing page In collaboration with our website vendor, I guided the visual direction of the landing page that would consolidate all of POGO’s federal employee resources in one place.&nbsp; This included determining the content hierarchy of these items, writing copy and microcopy, and designing illustrations for this page. <img width="1074" height="602" width_o="1074" height_o="602" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/552ac30544ea26a2699ae21a8c3b13447a0779463500a9c9e58b1d8486f5d039/Legal_Advocacy_Resources.png" data-mid="84683425" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/552ac30544ea26a2699ae21a8c3b13447a0779463500a9c9e58b1d8486f5d039/Legal_Advocacy_Resources.png" /> <img width="1074" height="602" width_o="1074" height_o="602" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d3be17acb05ab2436fec35231247be3126b6a6b1e24742c4ef75bc40fc89fa44/Share_Documents_with_POGO.png" data-mid="84683426" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d3be17acb05ab2436fec35231247be3126b6a6b1e24742c4ef75bc40fc89fa44/Share_Documents_with_POGO.png" /> 05. Advertisements As part of the campaign, we placed advertisements I designed in WMATA buses and transit locations around the metro DC area, concentrated in locations near major federal agencies or otherwise well-trafficked by government employees on their commutes. <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e02149549b8d77a16bcd545ca4d5328618034fde59ace250ab69fea22ee7ce5a/Metro_Transit_Shelters.jpg" data-mid="84600103" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e02149549b8d77a16bcd545ca4d5328618034fde59ace250ab69fea22ee7ce5a/Metro_Transit_Shelters.jpg" /> <img width="2048" height="1536" width_o="2048" height_o="1536" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/31ba9aca059bb590e6fd238750b2002ab2675ca1eb4c97d6577e41b1f08fadb3/Metro_Bus_Ad.JPG" data-mid="84600081" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/31ba9aca059bb590e6fd238750b2002ab2675ca1eb4c97d6577e41b1f08fadb3/Metro_Bus_Ad.JPG" /> https://lesliegarvey.com/Reform-Now-2022-Impact-Report-Volumes-1-2 Sun, 09 Apr 2023 13:02:09 +0000 Leslie Garvey https://lesliegarvey.com/Reform-Now-2022-Impact-Report-Volumes-1-2 Reform Now: 2022 Impact Report, Volumes 1 &amp; 2 <img width="1150" height="700" width_o="1150" height_o="700" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4a92aa5b70dc3beb1384142e64972466831f6dbb7386e461784c4f1fecd53b25/Reform-Now-3.jpg" data-mid="174724276" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4a92aa5b70dc3beb1384142e64972466831f6dbb7386e461784c4f1fecd53b25/Reform-Now-3.jpg" /> Some ContextIn 2022, the Project On Government Oversight divided its traditional Annual Report into two, half-yearly Impact Reports.&nbsp; I oversaw and directed the art and design process for these volumes in collaboration with our in-house designer, Renzo Velez, and the organization’s development and communications teams. Going into this process, I wanted to ensure these were developed visually as pairs, with similar visual language in the typography, color palette, textures, and illustrations, in order to reinforce these were the same product with the audience. Selected spreads below. <img width="1131" height="1441" width_o="1131" height_o="1441" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/60a43f2bd6cb99bf77e4cc6dbb72502ba54dd26f6159d832c7fac00fdae2df93/Vol-1-Cover.JPG" data-mid="174727033" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/60a43f2bd6cb99bf77e4cc6dbb72502ba54dd26f6159d832c7fac00fdae2df93/Vol-1-Cover.JPG" /> <img width="2198" height="1441" width_o="2198" height_o="1441" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/63ed431afc8a9a319aea7ce07a1c63b55ca73381c435f686444fc8544334bc6f/Vol-1-2-3.JPG" data-mid="174727035" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/63ed431afc8a9a319aea7ce07a1c63b55ca73381c435f686444fc8544334bc6f/Vol-1-2-3.JPG" /> <img width="2203" height="1439" width_o="2203" height_o="1439" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d5e45ea890ed9638efd590a2c32f751ae5f8e09f7c7a20c6031be3a60db6a721/Vol-1-12-13.JPG" data-mid="174727077" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d5e45ea890ed9638efd590a2c32f751ae5f8e09f7c7a20c6031be3a60db6a721/Vol-1-12-13.JPG" /> <img width="1119" height="1446" width_o="1119" height_o="1446" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c58f58cca44799b59c07b4041c0d527a2a24b40184b8485f9ba49f321ac030f6/Vol-1-Back.JPG" data-mid="174727092" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c58f58cca44799b59c07b4041c0d527a2a24b40184b8485f9ba49f321ac030f6/Vol-1-Back.JPG" /> <img width="1122" height="1437" width_o="1122" height_o="1437" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f8888f67ed8caf8dc33df016f200d5d6658101de4bbec2bf7d115ea458b5f3f9/Vol-2-Cover.JPG" data-mid="174727301" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f8888f67ed8caf8dc33df016f200d5d6658101de4bbec2bf7d115ea458b5f3f9/Vol-2-Cover.JPG" /> <img width="2200" height="1438" width_o="2200" height_o="1438" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b5fe07e1cc6088063be69c4bd8c6d7d2d5a8988bbd56510cd2f4ff2da835c4fe/Vol-2-6-7.JPG" data-mid="174727303" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b5fe07e1cc6088063be69c4bd8c6d7d2d5a8988bbd56510cd2f4ff2da835c4fe/Vol-2-6-7.JPG" /> <img width="2202" height="1441" width_o="2202" height_o="1441" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cea246c3ca31207f5b82b265304b29b24faa3a5e8b1c273b501f3fb9ef479acb/Vol-2-14-15.JPG" data-mid="174727349" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cea246c3ca31207f5b82b265304b29b24faa3a5e8b1c273b501f3fb9ef479acb/Vol-2-14-15.JPG" /> <img width="2198" height="1436" width_o="2198" height_o="1436" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4712868fbd7dd686ebf9e92bff70efe13fdf2ef6eb970a3cc885c07a458a21d0/Vol-2-16-17.JPG" data-mid="174727308" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4712868fbd7dd686ebf9e92bff70efe13fdf2ef6eb970a3cc885c07a458a21d0/Vol-2-16-17.JPG" /> <img width="2202" height="1442" width_o="2202" height_o="1442" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5a83220cd643ac1bd628879f8ac1910d56d94cb1e8cc0de269a4285688d391e4/Vol-2-18-19.JPG" data-mid="174727314" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5a83220cd643ac1bd628879f8ac1910d56d94cb1e8cc0de269a4285688d391e4/Vol-2-18-19.JPG" /> <img width="1119" height="1445" width_o="1119" height_o="1445" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e9bf1e2fa53267f42940fe6642ca811392c27863b375a176da8f69b46f4ee82f/Vol-2-Back.JPG" data-mid="174727319" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e9bf1e2fa53267f42940fe6642ca811392c27863b375a176da8f69b46f4ee82f/Vol-2-Back.JPG" /> https://lesliegarvey.com/Explainer-Why-Justices-Have-Too-Much-Power Sun, 09 Apr 2023 14:39:08 +0000 Leslie Garvey https://lesliegarvey.com/Explainer-Why-Justices-Have-Too-Much-Power Explainer: Why Justices Have Too Much Power Some ContextIn early 2021, the Project On Government Oversight was planning to release a significant report on courts reform, “Above the Fray: Changing the Stakes of Supreme Court Selection and Enhancing Legitimacy.” Leading up to its release and in collaboration with the report’s authors and the communication team, we released a series of videos breaking down some of the report’s key points in explainer form. Selected stills below. My Role I led the organization’s creative team — a video production associate, Halley Brown, and a designer, Renzo Velez — as we produced this video in-house. I was involved at all levels of the production process. In pre-production, I worked with Halley on distilling the report’s takeaways for the initial outline; reviewed, edited, and contributed to the script drafts; and led the team on moodboarding and storyboarding. In post, I reviewed the rough, fine, and final cuts and assigned tasks as-needed to the team. <img width="3832" height="2158" width_o="3832" height_o="2158" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1d24b0e7cbce67a1090c3b3855463df3e712cfd4762489a525cf880fe960472f/Courts-Reform-Structure.JPG" data-mid="174728485" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1d24b0e7cbce67a1090c3b3855463df3e712cfd4762489a525cf880fe960472f/Courts-Reform-Structure.JPG" /> <img width="3840" height="2160" width_o="3840" height_o="2160" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/48a2ec41776b2b13c5db934cc1d4d508e0b98c83d89de38e639197975fe6f0f9/Courts-Reform-Rethinking.JPG" data-mid="174729663" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/48a2ec41776b2b13c5db934cc1d4d508e0b98c83d89de38e639197975fe6f0f9/Courts-Reform-Rethinking.JPG" /> <img width="3840" height="2160" width_o="3840" height_o="2160" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5584076f3994a85521af9e71d755b07e585c2dbf552a89b8f1066148583afc94/Courts-Reform-1.JPG" data-mid="174728840" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5584076f3994a85521af9e71d755b07e585c2dbf552a89b8f1066148583afc94/Courts-Reform-1.JPG" /> <img width="3840" height="2160" width_o="3840" height_o="2160" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0dc6d0f6d148c1fb7d3272628abac04b31c0c3f20252ff32e6591bef9d2e83fb/Courts-Reform-Impeachment.JPG" data-mid="174728955" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0dc6d0f6d148c1fb7d3272628abac04b31c0c3f20252ff32e6591bef9d2e83fb/Courts-Reform-Impeachment.JPG" /> <img width="3840" height="2160" width_o="3840" height_o="2160" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/951896737f781f573665ce65814d89d4a3d58da0084ae224c716d654788771a0/Courts-Reform-Term.JPG" data-mid="174728966" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/951896737f781f573665ce65814d89d4a3d58da0084ae224c716d654788771a0/Courts-Reform-Term.JPG" /> <img width="3840" height="2160" width_o="3840" height_o="2160" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bc1aa0bb4160c02290e315e58157bf13f93cb70340871ffe6b094920b600db0f/Courts-Reform-Political.JPG" data-mid="174728964" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bc1aa0bb4160c02290e315e58157bf13f93cb70340871ffe6b094920b600db0f/Courts-Reform-Political.JPG" /> <img width="3840" height="2160" width_o="3840" height_o="2160" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9e000b3ce30e96d837ee13e58079c46f7f564083e0547e9609bb22961ec0424c/Courts-Reform-2.JPG" data-mid="174729441" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9e000b3ce30e96d837ee13e58079c46f7f564083e0547e9609bb22961ec0424c/Courts-Reform-2.JPG" /> <img width="3840" height="2160" width_o="3840" height_o="2160" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b0b8357029763c8ad4674156c82b58a1c12c78a139087edcf64997b1fffaa8fe/Courts-Reform-One-percent.JPG" data-mid="174729444" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b0b8357029763c8ad4674156c82b58a1c12c78a139087edcf64997b1fffaa8fe/Courts-Reform-One-percent.JPG" /> https://lesliegarvey.com/Quarterly-Publication-The-Defense-Monitor Sun, 09 Apr 2023 15:35:58 +0000 Leslie Garvey https://lesliegarvey.com/Quarterly-Publication-The-Defense-Monitor Quarterly Publication: The Defense Monitor <img width="1150" height="700" width_o="1150" height_o="700" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/073185dcbf8e07b857e6f346f4179fe697e0ff4bb5b5ee660afafd5cd3f27052/Defense-Monitor-Covers-2.jpg" data-mid="174731624" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/073185dcbf8e07b857e6f346f4179fe697e0ff4bb5b5ee660afafd5cd3f27052/Defense-Monitor-Covers-2.jpg" /> Some ContextThe Defense Monitor is a quarterly publication that has been running for some twenty years. For most of that time, it has been an academic journal catering to universities, industry insiders, and those concerned with the military-industrial complex. Originally a product of the nonprofit Center for Defense Information, The Defense Monitor was taken on by the Project On Government Oversight when the two nonprofits merged in 2012.&nbsp; In early 2022, I began taking a greater role in shaping The Defense Monitor as a product and determining how the publication can better serve its readers and the organization’s mission. My Role I sent a series of surveys in the first part of 2022 to better understand from its current readership what they most valued, and what could change, about the publication. Overwhelmingly, readers favored the information provided by The Defense Monitor, but wanted more content that helped them understand context and the CDI team’s impact. I worked with our external designer, Rachel Freedman, to bring the publication closer to POGO’s existing brand and fold in more future-facing and impact-centered content. I also changed the format to lead with a big, impactful cover and a letter from the director to help communicate the issue’s thrust and bring in more of what the CDI team was working on. <img width="2204" height="1434" width_o="2204" height_o="1434" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b657630d7cf83d16cc993e33f2bb4a2ba9bc841ab1351fb95958258169382a9d/DM-2023-2-3.JPG" data-mid="174732537" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b657630d7cf83d16cc993e33f2bb4a2ba9bc841ab1351fb95958258169382a9d/DM-2023-2-3.JPG" /> <img width="2202" height="1437" width_o="2202" height_o="1437" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5ba491459480fd159328fd04ca81558a3f7ba9263fd2094f070f262fbd2b6690/DM-2023-10-11.JPG" data-mid="174732576" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5ba491459480fd159328fd04ca81558a3f7ba9263fd2094f070f262fbd2b6690/DM-2023-10-11.JPG" /> <img width="2204" height="1439" width_o="2204" height_o="1439" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/658f6c6658e12b4c4693ca9fad4197e5b86fd8910b4caf529d64bbbd14bd0103/DM-2022-02-03.JPG" data-mid="174733046" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/658f6c6658e12b4c4693ca9fad4197e5b86fd8910b4caf529d64bbbd14bd0103/DM-2022-02-03.JPG" /> https://lesliegarvey.com/The-Great-Pandemic-Swindle Sun, 09 Apr 2023 16:12:35 +0000 Leslie Garvey https://lesliegarvey.com/The-Great-Pandemic-Swindle The Great Pandemic Swindle <img width="1330" height="810" width_o="1330" height_o="810" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f644768c99a5eb69566d4861579e37714182d2fc105859fc0bc017ef5f34f6e2/Great_Pandemic_Swindle_Feds_Botched_Review_of_Billions_in_Suspect_PPP_Loans_1330.jpg" data-mid="174733929" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f644768c99a5eb69566d4861579e37714182d2fc105859fc0bc017ef5f34f6e2/Great_Pandemic_Swindle_Feds_Botched_Review_of_Billions_in_Suspect_PPP_Loans_1330.jpg" /> Some ContextIn October 2022, the Project On Government Oversight published an investigation on some 2.4 million Paycheck Protection Program loans that were flagged by the Small Business Administration as warranting further scrutiny — for example, for fraud or ineligible recipients. Many of these loans — worth about a quarter of the total $800 billion lent out — were ultimately forgiven by the SBA.&nbsp; A key part of this investigation was in the data POGO had obtained through the Freedom of Information Act on the flags for these loans, which the authors narrowed down and sent my way for visualizing. My RoleI took the lead on reformatting various datasets the team sent my way, visualizing them, and helping the team determine which stories were the most useful for contextualizing this problem.&nbsp; I built these visualizations using Flourish, a data visualization software. There were some significant data issues I had to rectify in Excel so these would display properly, mostly due to differences in Flourish’s format and the government’s data — for example, concatenating county names, slight differences in nomenclature (e.g., “De Witt, Illinois” vs. “DeWitt, Illinois”), and handling U.S. territories (Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.) I also designed the investigation’s series of editorial illustrations, pulling from the data’s color scheme to tie the investigation visually together. Hot Spots:&nbsp;Midwest, Puerto Rico Counties Among Those with Most Flagged Loans Per Business I created this story series: focusing first on the continental U.S., then to Puerto Rico, and then to the Midwest. I also helped the team in the framing for this visualization, both in suggesting what would become the title for this visual and in writing the helper text for it. I was aiming to help the audience understand what we were showing through these datasets and how to navigate this visualization. Working from Home? PPP Recipients Flagged for Having a Large Number of Employees at a Residential Address This slice of the data, while accounting for only 5,811 loans, was a good indicator of fraud — as it indicated flags for a large number of employees at a residential location. Editorial Illustration Series <img width="665" height="400" width_o="665" height_o="400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a7c1a8888e1556dfb613868a4d761fe34f5c9a3112fda2aaa3b626b380461c3c/Great_Pandemic_Swindle_Feds_Botched_Review_of_Billions_in_Suspect_PPP_Loans__Parts_Headings_09.jpg" data-mid="174737568" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/665/i/a7c1a8888e1556dfb613868a4d761fe34f5c9a3112fda2aaa3b626b380461c3c/Great_Pandemic_Swindle_Feds_Botched_Review_of_Billions_in_Suspect_PPP_Loans__Parts_Headings_09.jpg" /> <img width="665" height="400" width_o="665" height_o="400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/905803c8558f7d0994fc263bd01aee0389532d163b293ed5317faa3496eab90d/Great_Pandemic_Swindle_Feds_Botched_Review_of_Billions_in_Suspect_PPP_Loans__Parts_Headings_04.jpg" data-mid="174737573" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/665/i/905803c8558f7d0994fc263bd01aee0389532d163b293ed5317faa3496eab90d/Great_Pandemic_Swindle_Feds_Botched_Review_of_Billions_in_Suspect_PPP_Loans__Parts_Headings_04.jpg" /> <img width="665" height="400" width_o="665" height_o="400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6003a02e6c41cfe555522e83d6036ed370f9c71ff8738bc4b0b78223f2b2042d/Great_Pandemic_Swindle_Feds_Botched_Review_of_Billions_in_Suspect_PPP_Loans__Parts_Headings_08.jpg" data-mid="174737574" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/665/i/6003a02e6c41cfe555522e83d6036ed370f9c71ff8738bc4b0b78223f2b2042d/Great_Pandemic_Swindle_Feds_Botched_Review_of_Billions_in_Suspect_PPP_Loans__Parts_Headings_08.jpg" /> <img width="665" height="400" width_o="665" height_o="400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4410643a21661595f9019933e055167d907a98ca3a20dca321455fc8adb95f12/Great_Pandemic_Swindle_Feds_Botched_Review_of_Billions_in_Suspect_PPP_Loans__Parts_Headings_10.jpg" data-mid="174737577" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/665/i/4410643a21661595f9019933e055167d907a98ca3a20dca321455fc8adb95f12/Great_Pandemic_Swindle_Feds_Botched_Review_of_Billions_in_Suspect_PPP_Loans__Parts_Headings_10.jpg" /> <img width="665" height="400" width_o="665" height_o="400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1b13c4f0b5951606cf89aab145f1e145201e2475a984f7765dd10528e6c323fe/Great_Pandemic_Swindle_Feds_Botched_Review_of_Billions_in_Suspect_PPP_Loans__Parts_Headings_03.jpg" data-mid="174737591" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/665/i/1b13c4f0b5951606cf89aab145f1e145201e2475a984f7765dd10528e6c323fe/Great_Pandemic_Swindle_Feds_Botched_Review_of_Billions_in_Suspect_PPP_Loans__Parts_Headings_03.jpg" /> <img width="665" height="400" width_o="665" height_o="400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/69ebf58a06a9d6baf07b202d41c6abc9958a489693365961241cc767867efec8/Great_Pandemic_Swindle_Feds_Botched_Review_of_Billions_in_Suspect_PPP_Loans__Parts_Headings_05.jpg" data-mid="174737595" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/665/i/69ebf58a06a9d6baf07b202d41c6abc9958a489693365961241cc767867efec8/Great_Pandemic_Swindle_Feds_Botched_Review_of_Billions_in_Suspect_PPP_Loans__Parts_Headings_05.jpg" /> The data also made its way into the editorial illustrations I designed for this story, such as the color scheme, the county heat map, and some of the data the investigators had obtained. https://lesliegarvey.com/State-Dept-Is-Quietly-Approving-Former-Servicemembers-Work-for Sun, 09 Apr 2023 17:11:45 +0000 Leslie Garvey https://lesliegarvey.com/State-Dept-Is-Quietly-Approving-Former-Servicemembers-Work-for State Dept. Is Quietly Approving Former Servicemembers’ Work for Foreign Interests <img width="1150" height="700" width_o="1150" height_o="700" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/32d4c89e3c251ea2e2e14488727e580021ab822d52aaa20b20f23bac04460a73/Emoluments_Former_Military_Officials_1150_2.jpg" data-mid="174738182" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/32d4c89e3c251ea2e2e14488727e580021ab822d52aaa20b20f23bac04460a73/Emoluments_Former_Military_Officials_1150_2.jpg" /> Some ContextIn October 2022, the Project On Government Oversight, in partnership with The Washington Post,&nbsp;published an investigation on the State Department’s approval for former military officials to go on to work on behalf of foreign interests. POGO had obtained these waivers through the Freedom of Information Act, which raised troubling questions: If former high-ranking military officials could go on to work for foreign interests, could they be counted on to provide advice in the best interest of the United States? My Role I took the lead on formatting this data to be visualized and determining how to present and package this information. I built these visualizations using Flourish, a data visualization software.&nbsp; There were some significant data issues I worked with the team to adjust in order for these to render as-expected. Much of this data had originally been input by-hand, and so many fields needed merging (e.g., “U.S. Public Health Service” vs. “USPHS” vs. “Public Health Service”), rectifying for differences in spelling, and corrected, such as for extraneous spaces (e.g., “Australian Government” vs. “Australian Government ”, which would create two categories.) We examined 517 ethics waivers, issued by the State Department, for former military officials to work on behalf of foreign interests. I created this initial series as a way for the reader to “see” these 517 records. On hover, the user could also browse dimensions of these waivers - for example, their rank and what country this servicemember would be approved to work for. These waivers authorized former members of the military to be paid to work on behalf of over 50 countries. The next visualization — one of the main thrusts of the piece —focused on showing which foreign interests were capitalizing on hiring former servicemembers. This visualization showed how the vast majority were concentrated in the Middle East, specifically the United Arab Emirates. Reformatting the data to work on this map was a small challenge. Flourish needed a specific format for the countries to match up correctly, so this took some reformatting of the underlying data in Excel.&nbsp; Over half of the waivers were granted to work on behalf of the United Arab Emirates — and of those, most were to work for just one state-owned defense conglomerate. <img alt="Made with Flourish" src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/made_with_flourish.svg" style="width:105px!important;height:16px!important;border:none!important;margin:0!important;"> In the course of combing through this data, I also helped to uncover the finding that many waivers were to work for one state-owned conglomerate, EDGE Group.&nbsp; Originally, this investigation listed three separate UAE companies as dominating the waiver program: AMMROC, Global Aerospace Logistics, and Knowledge Point. However, in the course of looking for those companies’ logos, I noticed their branding was extremely consistent, and raised the question with the investigation’s authors if it was possible they were part of the same company. As it turns out, they were subsidiaries of the conglomerate EDGE Group — which made our findings even more troubling. https://lesliegarvey.com/Protecting-the-Predators-at-DHS Wed, 12 Apr 2023 01:00:38 +0000 Leslie Garvey https://lesliegarvey.com/Protecting-the-Predators-at-DHS Protecting the Predators at DHS <img width="1330" height="810" width_o="1330" height_o="810" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bebb52deeb94b6e6fc5ba3d5b4d6977b2cccf801e8d83064a264ec38e79d26c0/Protecting_The_Predators_Header_1330.jpg" data-mid="175017460" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bebb52deeb94b6e6fc5ba3d5b4d6977b2cccf801e8d83064a264ec38e79d26c0/Protecting_The_Predators_Header_1330.jpg" /> <img width="1330" height="800" width_o="1330" height_o="800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/127b49924a1b8a27e48a71741b5562b5c473af0b64353cd4610fb303f5f5e2e7/Protecting_The_Predators_Parts_Headings_07.jpg" data-mid="175017355" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/127b49924a1b8a27e48a71741b5562b5c473af0b64353cd4610fb303f5f5e2e7/Protecting_The_Predators_Parts_Headings_07.jpg" /> <img width="1330" height="800" width_o="1330" height_o="800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5c4482523e57b14322878328e437b56957a9fa64b72ac03f367a1a4a77a1172f/Protecting_The_Predators_Parts_Headings_08.jpg" data-mid="175017364" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5c4482523e57b14322878328e437b56957a9fa64b72ac03f367a1a4a77a1172f/Protecting_The_Predators_Parts_Headings_08.jpg" /> <img width="1330" height="800" width_o="1330" height_o="800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/26f62dfffb665c329c15be62a10ebe41165a598c13ca763be0ee20487978fabd/Protecting_The_Predators_Parts_Headings_09.jpg" data-mid="175017367" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/26f62dfffb665c329c15be62a10ebe41165a598c13ca763be0ee20487978fabd/Protecting_The_Predators_Parts_Headings_09.jpg" /> <img width="1330" height="800" width_o="1330" height_o="800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8c1978f305992ee4947146214d9a8749d09c155b0c0194ca4b94ef3b2ccb8a20/Protecting_The_Predators_Parts_Headings_10.jpg" data-mid="175017368" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8c1978f305992ee4947146214d9a8749d09c155b0c0194ca4b94ef3b2ccb8a20/Protecting_The_Predators_Parts_Headings_10.jpg" /> Editorial hand-drawn illustration 2022 Link → https://lesliegarvey.com/The-Injustice-Department Sun, 09 Apr 2023 20:30:28 +0000 Leslie Garvey https://lesliegarvey.com/The-Injustice-Department The Injustice Department <img width="1150" height="700" width_o="1150" height_o="700" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/430e1a957654809e084345e3e14a719c6853b20cfa107b6bd1b46518919819f2/Injustice_Department_1150.jpg" data-mid="174750228" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/430e1a957654809e084345e3e14a719c6853b20cfa107b6bd1b46518919819f2/Injustice_Department_1150.jpg" /> Editorial collage 2022 Link →