Author: Brendan Barry

  • Airplanes in Hangars

    Today’s post features a simple set of graphics on the BBC, however the creators were actually the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. The background? The increasingly tense geopolitical situation in the South China Sea, where China claims numerous islands and reefs claimed by other countries—and to a smaller extent other countries make similar such claims. Just a…

  • China’s Straddling Bus

    Apologies for the lack of posts the last two days. I visited Wisconsin to trace some of the courthouse records of the Spellacys. And while I will try to return to them later next week, today we go to China. During my recent holidays, the media made much ado about a new straddling bus in China.…

  • Volcanos

    Happy Friday, everyone. Xkcd had a post this week about volcanos and it is an illustrated guide to the various different types of volcanos that exist. Well worth a look. Credit for the piece goes to Randall Munroe.

  • OD’ing in Philly

    Another day in Philadelphia, another post of Philly data visualisation work. Here we have a piece from 2015 that was updated earlier this spring. It looks at overdose rates in the Philadelphia region, including parts of New Jersey. It does include a map, because most pieces like this typically do. However, what I really find interesting about…

  • Where do Philly’s Cops Live?

    I am on holiday for a few days and am visiting Philadelphia. So what better time to cover some Philadelphia-made content? This interactive piece came out last year from Philly.com alongside coverage of the Philadelphia mayoral contest. I want to call out the colour palette for the choropleth in particular. We can see a blue…

  • Gotta Catch ‘Em All

    I admit that today’s post has absolutely nothing to do with data visualisation or information design. But, given my personal experiences the last few weeks, I thought it was worth sharing on a Friday. So please enjoy the work of xkcd. Credit for the piece goes to Randall Munroe.

  • President Bloomberg?

    I am not watching the conventions for the first time I can recall, because no cable television. But, I am occasionally dipping into live feed coverage. And while Michael Bloomberg spoke FiveThirtyEight linked to a few pieces of content they published earlier. I covered one about candidates abandoning the middle ground earlier. But this one…

  • Timeline of Recent French Terrorism Attacks

    Yesterday the French Catholic community of Rouen was attacked by an alleged IS terror group. In the aftermath the BBC put together a graphic published inside a broader piece. The graphic documented the recent history of terror attacks in France. When you read or scroll through the overall piece, a bit more symmetry could be added by…

  • National Heights

    And by this title I am not referencing McKinleys, K2s, or Everests. No, the BBC published this piece on the changing average heights of citizens of various countries. This was the graphic they used from the report’s author. Personally speaking, I do not care for the graphic. It is unclear and puts undue emphasis on…

  • Bye Bye, Yahoo

    Happy Monday, all. Some big news stories going on today, but I wanted to take a look at this piece from the New York Times. They report on the sale of Yahoo to Verizon for almost $5 billion via a piece that takes short written analysis and blends it with clear and concise charting. The…