Matthew Bloch is a Graphics Editor at The New York Times with 13 years of experience blending cartography, data visualization, and front-end engineering. He holds an MS in Geographic Information Science and Cartography from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and brings academic depth to newsroom graphics that emphasize spatial clarity and usability. Matthew contributes to open-source visualization tools—improving UI/UX for mapshaper and enhancing text and export workflows in ai2html—reflecting a focus on making complex graphics accessible on the web. His work routinely bridges design and code, from SVG/text placement nuances to interactive vertex selection in mapping interfaces. Based in New York, he pairs classical training in languages and humanities with technical cartographic expertise, an uncommon combination that informs his storytelling through maps. Colleagues rely on him for practical, user-centered improvements that make data-driven graphics more readable and usable.
13 years of coding experience
Master of Science (MS), Geographic Information Science and Cartography, Master of Science (MS), Geographic Information Science and Cartography at University of Wisconsin-Madison
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Classics and Classical Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Classics and Classical Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics at Haverford College
A script for Adobe Illustrator that converts your Illustrator artwork into an html page.
Role in this project:
Front-end Developer
Contributions:343 commits, 15 PRs, 266 pushes in 5 years 10 months
Contributions summary:Matthew primarily contributed to the development of the ai2html script, focusing on its user interface and functionality to convert Illustrator artwork into HTML and CSS. Their commits demonstrate a focus on text-related features, including fixing text placement issues, implementing support for different text styles, and enhancing text placement. The user also improved code structure and resolved bugs within the script.
Tools for editing Shapefile, GeoJSON, TopoJSON and CSV files
Role in this project:
Front-end Developer
Contributions:410 releases, 3232 commits, 10 PRs in 10 years
Contributions summary:Matthew primarily contributed to the user interface aspects of the project, focusing on improving interactive elements and overall user experience. Key changes include modifications to button behaviors, the addition of a feature for selecting vertices within a map, and enhanced styling of the GUI's display. The user's work also involved improving the handling of display settings, adding a menu item for better user accessibility. The user seems focused on improving the usability of the mapping interface.
topojsoncsvsvgcsv-filesediting
Find and Hire Top DevelopersWe’ve analyzed the programming source code of over 60 million software developers on GitHub and scored them by 50,000 skills. Sign-up on Prog,AI to search for software developers.
Request Free Trial
Matthew Bloch - Graphics Editor at The New York Times