Tag: interactive design

  • Big Mac Index

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    Brendan Barry
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    For years, the Big Mac Index from the Economist has been a standard of sorts for examining differences in currencies across the world. Well now we have an online, interactive version of the index. Credit for the piece goes to the Economist’s graphics department.

  • Am I Your Type, Politically Speaking of Course?

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    Brendan Barry
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    Maybe? But thanks to Pew Research, you can see if we align politically. Today’s post comes via Pete, a coworker of mine, and it is basically a survey that works by asking you 23 political questions on topics from big/small government, immigration, climate change, gay rights, defence spending, &c. They crunch some numbers and spit…

  • What About the Bees?

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    Brendan Barry
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    Last week President Obama announced a task force to investigate the disappearance of honeybees. While that might sound like something out of a Doctor Who episode—it is—the problem is real since bees pollinate the flowers that become the fruit and vegetables we consume. The Washington Post took a look at what might be responsible for…

  • The Cycling Gender Gap

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    Brendan Barry
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    Here in Chicago this week is Bike Week and today Bike to Work Day. So today is a great day for some work from Buzzfeed that highlights the gender gap in cycling (at least in three US cities). To be fair, the data for the statement comes only from urban bike share programmes. But it…

  • Where Guns Are Easier to Find Than Knowledge

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    Brendan Barry
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    I loved the title of this piece from the Washington Post that I had to borrow it myself. Of course all credit goes to that particular copywriter. The Washington Post looked at counties and states where gun stores outnumbered museums and libraries. Thankfully my home county has more knowledge than guns. Sadly, the same cannot…

  • How ISIS Got This Far

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    Brendan Barry
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    The Washington Post is also helping us understand the spread of ISIS. This time a bit more interactively than we have seen from the Times. This is a step-by-step (ish) explanation. Though, I quibble with the decision to link cities by dotted lines. That can create the illusion that ISIS fighters moved directly from city…

  • Understanding the Boston Subway System

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    Brendan Barry
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    Today’s post is the graduate work of Michael Barry and Brian Card of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The two looked at the available public data of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA)—the T to those that know—to better understand the Boston area subway system. Here the subway system refers to the heavy rail lines, i.e. the…

  • Blight, not Panic, in Detroit

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    Brendan Barry
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    A little old, but this graphic from the New York Times explores urban blight in Detroit. The interesting feature about the map is the blue, highlighted section. The designers used Google Streetview to show an actual blighted street. Credit for the piece goes to the New York Times graphics department.

  • Growth of the Common Core Standard

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    Brendan Barry
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    Today’s piece is a timeline-driven piece from the Washington Post. It looks at the success the Gates Foundation has had in pushing its Common Core standards as an educational standard across the country. Credit for the piece goes to Darla Cameron, Ted Mellnik, and Cristina Rivero.

  • Viewing the Economy All at Once

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    Brendan Barry
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    Normally I try to reserve Fridays for the lighter stuff. But yesterday, the New York Times published a really fantastic piece about how the Great Recession changed the American economy through job growth or loss in each sector of the economy. Naturally this sounds very difficult because the American economy is both very large and…