Tag: information design

  • Apple And Its Suppliers

    American companies have long been moving their manufacturing overseas. Apple is no exception. However, Apple does audit its suppliers to ensure they are in compliance with the company’s code of conduct. The New York Times reported on this and included a graphic along with its article. We have small multiples of line charts with small blurbs…

  • Show Europe the Money

    The Guardian has an interactive piece that details payments to and from European Union member states to institutions, determining whether each state is a giver or receiver. The concept sounds all well and good. However, the piece itself feels clumsy with too much scrolling and whipping about to pan across the whole EU. The charts…

  • Fresh Water Bulge in the Arctic Ocean

    The BBC has an article on a discovery of a growing bulge of fresh water in the Arctic Ocean. The top of the article includes a large set of graphics that explains the story below and links to an animation. The animation depicts the growth of the Arctic ice sheet from the pressure beneath and…

  • How the Costa Concordia Sank

    The Costa Concordia sank nearly a week ago, but the questions of exactly how and why she sank will likely linger for much longer. The BBC has had extensive coverage of the story, including this page that details what is known about how and why the cruise ship sank.

  • Earth-sized Planets

    We have finally discovered two planets outside our solar system that have roughly the same size as Earth. Unfortunately, unless we learn that life can exist in the form of fire beings, these two planets are too close to their sun to support life. Their temperatures are in the hundreds and thousands of degrees. A…

  • The Family Tree of Kim Jong Il

    Kim Jong Il is dead. And nobody really knows what is going to happen in North Korea. But, what we do have, is the interactive family tree of Kim Jong Il, courtesy of the BBC. Select individuals are clickable and have short biographical sketches. Unfortunately, the tree has been simplified for clarity and it does…

  • The Rise of Newt

    The Iowa caucuses are quickly approaching. And that means for many candidates a scramble to gain as many supporters as possible and then convert their poll ratings into votes. For the Republicans, this has been a truly topsy-turvy cycle with the distant refrain of “anyone but Mitt” echoing in the background. So, here we are…

  • The Finances of Social Security

    Simple graphs can tell great stories with little annotations. This graphic by the New York Times illustrates that point well with a stacked line chart set behind a line on the same scale. The two should match, or at least the red should be beneath the greys. When they don’t, you have a story and…

  • Killed in Action in Iraq, State by State

    The Iraq War is over. And now it is time to reflect on what we have gained and what we have lost. This map by the Guardian details the number of soldiers killed in action in Iraq. (Other options include total wounded, killed by non-hostile, &c.) Unfortunately, I call it a ‘no kidding’ type of…

  • Best Charts of 2011 (Or So Say Economists)

    These charts are not particularly well designed, but they were chosen by top economists for the BBC to talk about 2011.