Examining How We Measure Our Lives
Commentary, critiques, and observations on information design and data visualisation
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Read on…: Is Covid-19 Surging in New Zealand?
Yesterday, President Trump claimed that Covid-19 was “surging” in New Zealand, a country widely lauded as having successfully contained and suppressed their outbreak. That has allowed Wellington to reopen large swathes of their economy without incident. Until this surge. And by surge we mean something like 30 cases in 3 days. So, let’s compare that surge to the numbers of…
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The Lower 48 and the Others
Read on…: The Lower 48 and the OthersThis week is the Democratic National Convention. Organisers scheduled it for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but that’s obviously not happening. This post is a short one, but like last week’s not entirely about data visualisation. I want to take a quick look at the identity or logo for the event. It’s a simple lockup and features D20 in a Helvetica-like grotesk typeface…
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Space Force Logo Pt. II
Read on…: Space Force Logo Pt. IIHappy Friday, everyone. We’ve made it to the end of the week. Yesterday, I departed from the usual data visualisation discourse and delved into some branding/identity work. Spoilers, that’s a good part of my career as well. But I thought it would be interesting to take a look at how the armed forces branch could be represented through some different…
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So Cutting Edge
Read on…: So Cutting EdgeSpace Force. Yep, that’s still a thing. I’ll spare you all the long history of Space Force, because we’ve all pointed and laughed at that enough. So much so there is a Netflix show about it. There was an old logo for Space Force, which basically was the logo for Starfleet Command. You know, the fictional Space Force of Star…
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When Is an Opener Game in Baseball Really Just a Bullpen Game?
Read on…: When Is an Opener Game in Baseball Really Just a Bullpen Game?Whenever someone not named Eovaldi or Perez starts a Red Sox game in 2020, that’s when. We all know the Red Sox are the worst team in the American League. They have only two starters, maybe sometimes a third. And then the last two days of the regular five-day rotation cycle, manager Ron Roenicke throws some relievers at the wall…
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Sweet Summer Air of Subway Cars
Read on…: Sweet Summer Air of Subway CarsFor those of my readers who live in a city where the subway or underground is a great means of getting around the city, you know you really miss that late Saturday night/early Sunday morning bouquet in the air. Though as this New York Times piece explains, sure it smells bad, but that air is probably safer than you dining…
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Rating Scale
Read on…: Rating ScaleThis week is almost over and so instead of a graphic about unemployment numbers, let’s look at a piece from xkcd that provides us all with a new rating scale. Because, let’s be honest, we all at some point are going to need to rate 2020 come December. And while we still have almost five months remaining, what are you…
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Flood Stages of the Schuylkill
Read on…: Flood Stages of the SchuylkillHurricane Isaias ran up the East Coast of the United States then the Hudson River Valley before entering Canada. Before it left the US, however, it dumped some record-setting amounts of rain in Philadelphia and across the region. And in times of heavy rains, the lower-lying areas of the city (and suburbs like Upper Darby and Downingtown to mention a…