Category : events

This year, Fat Pencil Studio is partnering with our co-tenants Manifesto Agency to host an open house for Design Week 2018. This Thursday the 19th, from 4:30pm to 7pm, we’ll be opening our doors for an evening of live data viz and storytelling. We’ll have music, giveaways, and custom Manifesto and Fat Pencil cocktails for […]

Business for a Better Portland—BBPDX for short—is a community-building organization focused on mobilizing local business owners toward positive change. When it was founded about a year ago, Fat Pencil Studio was one of the first businesses to join. Recently, BBPDX celebrated its first birthday with a party for its members, cake and all. The last […]

Early last month, we at Fat Pencil Studio opened our doors, kept the lights on for a couple extra hours, and hosted an office warming in our new space in the Hanna Building. And it was such a blast! Thank you all for gathering around our Netflix fireplace, drinking your fill, and bringing warmth and […]

Over the last couple months, we’ve spent much of our spare time around the studio planning and prepping for the transition to our new digs. And last Wednesday morning was go time: while Ady and I were away at client meeting, Jannine and Joshua were left to pack up the office. Being the superheroes they […]

Feature Photo Credit: Oregon Department of Transportation Last month, Oregon’s legislature passed a $5.3-billion transportation bill in an effort to keep up with a growing population and increasingly inadequate infrastructure. As Portland continues to rise on the list of most infuriating cities to drive in, efforts to make our roadways more efficient have sparked intense […]

Last night I walked down two flights of stairs into “the pit” of the Morrison Bridge. As part of a tour organized by WTS Portland, I got to see the current state of construction first hand, including the counterweight mechanism below the bridge. It’s not the first time I’ve been “down below”. Back in 2014, […]

Recently I had the chance to participate in a mock jury exercise at FORTE. Trial attorneys from all over the country came to hone their opening statement presentation skills. FORTE focuses on non-verbal communication (our fave), and workshops, while designed for attorneys, include tips that are generally helpful to everyone in attendance. The subject matter for […]

On May 20th, one of Portland’s first sunny Saturdays the year, 200 people elected to stay inside and talk about maps. Maps they love and hate, maps they made themselves or dreamed of making, how we make maps and why we make maps. This was the first-ever Resistance GIS Conference, held in a dim auditorium […]

A lot of the work we do gets presented behind closed doors to only a few people, so it’s always exciting when we get a chance to share it with the public at large. With construction for upgrades to Pioneer Courthouse Square slated to begin early next year, Portland Parks & Recreation was looking for […]

Last summer, our own Yelena Prusakova was part of a core group of Better Block PDX volunteers that helped pilot a new traffic pattern on Portland’s Naito Parkway. (Read Mo’ Betta Block for a recap) This Summer, #BetterNaito is back, and Yelena has just released a fantastic video that documents the process of transforming the street […]