Examining How We Measure Our Lives

Commentary, critiques, and observations on information design and data visualisation

Comparing Urban Statistics

Apr 10, 2014

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Brendan Barry

in Infographic

Sometimes when you are considering moving, you want to look at some broad statistics on the area in which you want to move. In Boston, the Boston Globe has put together a neat little application that does just that. Type in two settlements in the metro area and then get a quick comparison of the […]
Read on…: Comparing Urban Statistics
Chicago’s Disappearing Middle Class

Apr 9, 2014

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Brendan Barry

in Infographic

President Obama has made a big deal recently about income inequality. The story in short is that the rich in the country are getting rich; the poor are getting poorer; and the people in the middle are fewer in number. Here in Chicago, this has meant that over the last few decades, many of the […]
Read on…: Chicago’s Disappearing Middle Class
Motorcycle Helmet Laws

Apr 8, 2014

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Brendan Barry

in Infographic

Today’s piece does not involve any particularly crazy graphics or forms of data visualisation. Instead, the piece is a novel way of telling a story. People are increasingly familiar with what we might call here scrolling stories. Scroll down the page and suddenly you have glossy photos or high-definition videos. The New York Times, however, […]
Read on…: Motorcycle Helmet Laws
Changing the Minimum Wage

Apr 7, 2014

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Brendan Barry

in Infographic

Here’s a piece from the New York Times where I have to quibble with some minor design decisions. The story behind the graphic is various state actions on the minimum wage compared to where President Obama wants the minimum wage raised. This is a good story and broadly I like the execution. But these arrows, […]
Read on…: Changing the Minimum Wage
How to Write a Story

Apr 4, 2014

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Brendan Barry

in Infographic

Today’s post is hosted on Brain Pickings. It’s diagrams made by Kurt Vonnegut that describe how basic plot lines work along two axes. There is a short video you can watch that goes over a few of them. But my favourite is, of course, not there. You have to read a bit further along to […]
Read on…: How to Write a Story
Building to View London

Apr 3, 2014

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Brendan Barry

in Infographic

A little while back, the Economist posted an interesting slideshow piece that showcased the intricacies of London’s skyscraper problem and how many areas are restricted to preserve lines of sight. The user can click through each view and see just where on the map the view falls. Credit for the piece goes to D.K., L.P., G.D., […]
Read on…: Building to View London
Acquiring Technology via Purchases

Apr 2, 2014

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Brendan Barry

in Infographic

Last week Facebook acquired a company specialising in virtual reality. The Wall Street Post put together a timeline of technology company acquisitions over the last several years. Each line is a different company and sizes of dots represent the value of the different purchases. Credit for the piece goes to the Wall Street Journal’s graphics […]
Read on…: Acquiring Technology via Purchases
Recent Military Expenditure

Apr 1, 2014

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Brendan Barry

in Infographic

The Crimean situation has highlight how much not just Ukraine is not ready to fight Russia, but also how much less Western Europe is prepared to fight. This piece from the Washington Post examines actual defence expenditure and then defence expenditure as a share of GDP. While Europe has remained steady or in decline, Russia […]
Read on…: Recent Military Expenditure
Spilling the Oil

Mar 31, 2014

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Brendan Barry

in Infographic

A few weeks ago, Bloomberg Businessweek published a nice graphic that summarised the last 25 years of oil spills. I’m finally getting around to posting it. But what it does really well is show just how bad the Deepwater Horizon spill was compared to the other big name disaster: Exxon Valdez. Of particular note is […]
Read on…: Spilling the Oil
New Transit Map for Springfield

Mar 28, 2014

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Brendan Barry

in Infographic

Springfield from the Simpsons, of course. Happy Friday, and have fun visiting the Ethnictown station. The article comes from Atlantic Cities. Credit for the piece goes to the designers of the Simpsons.
Read on…: New Transit Map for Springfield