Andrew
Walpole
Principal Web
Developer &
Engineering
Manager
Designer
Leader
Teacher
Learner
Maker
San Diego Fighting Covid
Overview
When the pandemic hit, everyone was scared and uncertain. It was easy to watch the news and feel helpless to all the goings-on. Then, at the height of the personal protective equipment shortage in hospitals, a call went out for individuals to 3D print, assemble and donate gear to local authorities. I sought out the folks looking to organize in San Diego and offered to design and develop a website with all of the needed information and resources for others local to San Diego to help out.
It’s a simple project, with few bells and whistles, but one that I am proud to have been able to make.
The site was built with plain HTML, CSS and JavaScript, inside of a custom Nunjucks and Gulp system to componentize the parts. The logo and site was designed in haste in Adobe Illustrator.
Challenges
The most technical part of the project was figuring out a quick way to integrate dynamic content into the site. I opted for hooking up a public AirTable Base to the site via the AirTable API, so the less technical moderators could quickly post news and updates. Not really a scalable solution, but it didn’t have to be. A handful of entries along with the average traffic the site garnered kept us well within the limits of the platform.
Tech Stack
- Plain HTML, CSS and JavaScript
- Nunjucks
- Custom Gulp build system
- AirTable API
- Adobe Illustrator
Me dropping off 3D printed PPE face shield frames