Hit-and-Run Cycling Accidents in Los Angeles

Today’s piece comes via a colleague. It is an article about hit-and-run cycling accidents in and around Los Angeles. The data visualisation in the article is not entirely complex—we are talking only about line charts and bar charts—but they support the arguments and statements in the article. And in that sense they are doing their job.

Locations of hit-and-run accidents in and around LA
Locations of hit-and-run accidents in and around LA

Credit for the piece goes to Armand Emamdjomeh, Laura J. Nelson, and Joseph Serna.

Air Traffic over London

Last week, there was a disruption at the air traffic control centre for the United Kingdom. It caused many travel problems. And the BBC included a graphic showing how the problem was shutting down London air space.

Empty skies over London
Empty skies over London

Credit for the piece goes to the BBC graphics department.

Football Fans on Twitter

To continue with the sports theme from yesterday, today we have an interactive map from Twitter that looks at NFL team popularity. The methodology is simple, where are the users following the various football teams and map that out by county. The overall blog post features a country-wide map, but then narrows down into a few particular stories. The image below is from the divide in the state of Pennsylvania between Eagles fans and Steelers fans.

Philly vs. Pittsburgh
Philly vs. Pittsburgh

Credit for the piece goes to Simon Rogers and Krist Wongsuphasawat.

Baseball Transaction Trees

Baseball’s Winter Meetings often provide fans with lots of trade news and free agent signings. As a Red Sox fan, one of the unfortunate signings was the Cubs picking up Jon Lester. For my friends back in Philly, Jimmy Rollins is headed to Los Angeles. But then for Boston, at the time of writing it appears a deal may be imminent for Arizona’s Wade Miley in exchange for Allen Webster and Rubby de la Rosa.

The reason I mention all those names is that they reminded me of a series of graphics from last month that looked at the longest transaction trees for each team. Put simply, how far back can one guy being traded for another guy being signed as compensation for another guy leaving get you back in history. The following graphic tracks a different Red Sox trade, of Anthony Ranaudo and Brandon Workman in 2014 back to the signing of Ken Ryan in 1986.

The transaction tree for Ranaudo and Workman
The transaction tree for Ranaudo and Workman

But what reminded me more specifically was the note that followed the above graphic that had Allen Webster as the longest trade-only tree for Boston. That starts because of the Hanley Ramirez signing in 2000—who returned to Boston only a few weeks in a free agent signing. Similarly, Jimmy Rollins was the longest transaction tree for the Phillies since his signing back in 1996. But that will now change once the players in exchange for Rollins are made clear.

Credit for the piece goes to Ben Lindbergh.

The City Liveability Index

Several months ago the Economist looked at city liveability, which in their words looks at safety, healthcare, educational resources, infrastructure, and environment. And, well, it turns out that Canada, Australia, and New Zealand do really well. The only two cities not in those countries within the top-ten: Vienna, Austria (no. 2) and Helsinki, Finland (no. 8).

City liveability index
City liveability index

What I like about the dot plot is the separation of the data into three sections based on city movement. Those moving up on one line, those moving down on another, and then those with no change plotted in the centre. The cities with the most change in each of the movement sections are then called out in bold. Simple, but clear and effective.

Credit for the piece goes to G.S., K.N.C., and G.D.

Fashion and Instagram

I am an admittedly new user of the social network Instagram. But, for those unaware, it is basically an easy way of sharing visual content, e.g. photographs and videos. So from that you can see how it is a natural medium for the fashion industry. Well a little while ago Quartz looked at how the social network works for the fashion industry on Instagram. Quartz guides you through the piece in nine steps, but allows you to search for specific accounts.

The fashion network on Instagram
The fashion network on Instagram

Credit for the piece goes to David Yanofsky and Jenni Avins.

Where the (Disproportionate) Jobs Are

A little while ago, LinkedIn put together a map looking at the disproportionately represented jobs and skills in cities in both the United States and Europe. That is different from the most common jobs but those that are “most uniquely found” in cities.

The unique skills of America's various cities
The unique skills of America’s various cities

Unfortunately the interface is a bit clumsy. For something that is about exploring different cities, I think the small area of the map could be bigger. And the highlighting functionality lags. But the overall idea is interesting.

And on a side note, while graphic design is not specifically covered, I found the list of skills for Chicago surprising. If only because I work as a designer for a company in the market research industry.

Kind of explains a lot. Well, to me.
Kind of explains a lot. Well, to me.

Credit for the piece goes to Sohan Murthy.

Why I Became an Information Designer or: Why People Hate Watching Movies with Me

I don’t always watch pop culture. But on those occasions when I do, xkcd basically sums up why I became an information designer.

Reason No. 42 why I became an information designer
Reason No. 42 why I became an information designer

Credit for the piece goes to Randall Munroe.

Orion Test Flight

At the time of writing, Orion has yet to launch. But by the time this is published, Orion—NASA’s successor to the space shuttle—will hopefully be at or near the greatest distance from Earth achieved by a spacecraft since the Apollo programme. The Houston Chronicle illustrated the different stages of the unmanned test flight. Hopefully in several years when the programme has its manned flight this blog will still be here and somebody out there will similarly illustrate that mission.

Stage 4
Stage 4

Credit for the piece goes to Ken Ellis.

White (Immigrant) People

This is an old map that saw the light of day a while back. Featured on Vox, the map supports the notion that some white people are whiter than other white people. The map explores immigrant populations. Using a map for spatial arrangement of integrated components, the data looks at immigrants’ ethnic origins, their workforce breakdown, and their recent growth.

A look at PA, my ancestors are in that data set
A look at PA, my ancestors are in that data set

Credit for the piece goes to FS Howell. (I presume.)