The Noun Project and Code for America have partnered with the City of San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Civic Innovation to host an Iconathon on Saturday, June 30th. This design workshop will focus on creating a set of public domain symbols to visually communicate Neighborhood Revitalization. These symbols will cross language and illiteracy barriers to communicate things like community gardens, stores that sell healthy food, and places to see public art. More information is available at Iconathon.org.

We’d love to get your input about what symbols you think should be created during this Iconathon. Please visit ImproveSF to see what symbols we’re considering, to submit your ideas and vote for your favorites.

Tentative Schedule of the Day

Speaker on "Central Market Area Revitalization": Ellyn Parker from the Mayor’s Office of Economic Workforce and Development

Speaker on "Tactical Urbanism": Dan Parham, co-founder of Neighborland

What to Bring

We'll have an assortment of essential art materials, but if you have art supplies that you can't live without (special pencils, notebooks, laptop, etc), please bring them. Laptops are also very helpful for researching symbols during the event.

Who Should Attend

If you have a passion for designing, getting engaged with your community, helping build a better planet, and being creative while collaborating with great people - you should come!

One of the great benefits of Iconathons is that not only do they contribute much-needed civic minded symbols to the public domain, they also bring together people from all aspects of the community. Participants include educators, non-profits, civic leaders & volunteers, government officials and designers. Iconathons are specifically designed to let the public participate in the design process and to further increase their understanding of the civic topics they engage with. You do not need to know how to design or draw in order to participate.

About San Francisco’s Central Market/Tenderloin Neighborhood

The Central Market neighborhood is a stretch of Market Street from 5th Street to Van Ness Avenue in the heart of San Francisco. Situated next to Tenderloin, the neighborhood has for decades suffered from blight and neglect. In 2010, San Francisco’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development launched the Central Market Partnership, a public/private initiative to renew and coordinate efforts to revitalize the Central Market neighborhood. The City's goal is to restore Central Market as San Francisco's downtown arts district by inviting in new retail, restaurants, services and employers, at the same time as ensuring against displacement. The efforts to revitalize and transform the Central Market area have culminated in companies like Zendesk and Twitter paving the way forward by moving their headquarters to the area.

Picture of Tenderloin by Jake Levitas