Examining How We Measure Our Lives
Commentary, critiques, and observations on information design and data visualisation
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Read on…: Millennials Are the Worst
Happy Friday, everybody. We made it to week’s end. But wouldn’t you know it? Millennials are still terrible. Admittedly this piece is over a year old, but I could not remember ever seeing it before. If you do not recall, last year there was a debate about the spending habits of millennials and why they are not out there buying homes and…
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Running Up the Debt
Read on…: Running Up the DebtI was reading the paper this morning and stumbled across this graphic in a New York Times article that focused on the increasing importance of debt payments. The story is incredibly important and goes to show why the tax cuts passed by the administration are fiscally reckless. But the graphic is really smart too. After all, it is designed to work…
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Kavanaugh’s Fading in Competitive House Seats
Read on…: Kavanaugh’s Fading in Competitive House SeatsAnother day, another allegation of sexual misconduct against Brett Kavanaugh. We are presently at two and are expecting a third tomorrow. But the question is, will these allegations sink his nomination? Probably not. But could that confirmation hurt Republicans in the mid-terms? Possibly. The New York Times posted an article about how Kavanaugh’s support in battleground congressional districts is slipping.…
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Our Lives Are a Mixed Bag
Read on…: Our Lives Are a Mixed BagLast Thursday the Economist published an article looking at quality of life across the world. The data came from the Social Progress Imperative and examined quality of life, excluding economic performance. And as the article details, the results were mixed at best. But, hey, the chart was really nice. We have a small multiple set looking at the overall index…
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Supreme Court Picks
Read on…: Supreme Court PicksI was initially going to ignore this one graphic, but the absolute craziness of this past week’s Bret Kavanaugh nomination hearings/process made this feel at least somewhat relevant. But hey, at least it’s Friday? Credit for the piece goes to Randall Munroe.
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The Carolinas and Florence
Read on…: The Carolinas and FlorenceAs you all probably know, Hurricane Florence crashed into the Carolinas this past weekend. And while I was on holiday, I did see a few articles about the storm and its impact. This one from the New York Times captured my attention because of its use of—surprise, surprise—maps. In particular, as the user scrolls through the experience, he or she…
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My Family Shrub?
Read on…: My Family Shrub?One of the main objectives of my long weekend in Boston is to research my family history. Usually when you do that kind of research you see familiar visualisation forms: trees. And in this book on a New England ancestral family, I saw trees. But the problem is history is never as neat and clean as we would prefer it…
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iPhone Screen Size
Read on…: iPhone Screen SizeYour humble author has returned. And on my trip up to Boston I took plenty of photos with my Nexus 5X, a Google-designed smartphone. That is correct, this designer does not use an iPhone. But I am aware of the latest things coming out of Apple—after all this is being typed up on a Mac—and so the larger screen size…
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Pie Charts
Read on…: Pie ChartsToday is my Friday, everyone, as I am going away on holiday for a little bit. (You can expect me back mid-next week.) So, enjoy this design tip from xkcd on my favourite form of data visualisation: the pie chart. Credit for the piece goes to Randall Munroe.
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Europe’s Far-right Parties
Read on…: Europe’s Far-right PartiesYesterday we looked at the rise of the far-right in Sweden based on their electoral gains in this past weekend’s election. Today, the Economist has a piece detailing their strength throughout Europe and they claim that this type of nationalist party may have peaked. The graphic fascinates me because it appears to be a twist on the box or tile…