Tag: interactive design

  • The ABCs of the F-35

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    Brendan Barry
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    Certainly in the more illustrative range, a few weeks back the Washington Post published a small piece that looked at the F-35. Somehow it has survived budget cuts and become a monstrous $400 billion defence project. Partly that is because it is being built in three different versions for all the main aircraft-flying service branches:…

  • US Trade Balance

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    Brendan Barry
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    The US imports a lot. But it does not export quite as much. The difference between those two figures is what is known as the balance of trade. Quartz looks at the US balance of trade not at an overall level, but between individual countries. This is not one of my favourite pieces. For starters,…

  • Analysing Amtrak

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    Brendan Barry
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    The Brookings Institution released a report investigating the ridership of Amtrak’s various routes in an attempt to identify ways of cutting costs. They also released an interactive piece along with the report that pairs a map with a simple table. Highlighting a route in the table highlights the route in the map and links the…

  • The United States Compared to the Rest of the World

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    Brendan Barry
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    Have you ever wondered how big the United States is? MAPfrappe allows you to compare different geographies in Google Maps. My employer has an office in Chicago and an office in Santiago, Chile. How big is Chile? North-to-south it is quite large. But east to west, the distance is like that of driving from Chicago…

  • Understanding Modern China

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    Brendan Barry
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    China is a big country, both geographically and demographically. It can also be rather opaque and difficult for an outsider to understand. So this recent work from Reuters is amazing because it makes China a bit more transparent while illustrating just how the political system structures power and personnel appointments. Truthfully, there is more content…

  • Catholics and Cardinals

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    Brendan Barry
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    As the conclave in Rome is almost ready to begin, likely sometime next week, cardinals are gathering in Rome to discuss the affairs of the Catholic Church and then elect a new pope from within their ranks. Many outsiders talk about the time for a pope from outside of Europe, that the papacy has been…

  • How Film Trailers Are Crafted

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    Brendan Barry
    in

    It’s Oscar time. And not in the it’s time for grouchy, can-living commentary. It’s as in movie award time. How are films promoted? Often through trailers and teasers. But how are those made? Well, the New York Times dissected trailers for five of the nine films up for best film. The piece looks at where…

  • Influenza

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    Brendan Barry
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    The Washington Post has an interactive infographic piece out about the spread of the flu. The big draw is of course the map—people like maps and they are easy to navigate. However, this time the map actually can serve a useful purpose because a virus spreads through the contact of people and communities. And when…

  • NFL Teams by the Numbers

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    Brendan Barry
    in

    While the Superbowl was two weekends ago, I have been sitting on this post for a little while. Probably because I really just don’t understand the sport. But over at the Guardian, the interactive team put together an interactive infographic that looked at payroll spending for each team by position and by overall position, i.e.…

  • Blizzard Snowfall

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    Brendan Barry
    in

    If you do not live on the East Coast, you may be unaware that there was some minor snowfall in New England over this past weekend. The Weather Channel went ahead and named the storm Nemo. (I’m going to lay off the suspect and fishy jokes.) I wanted to revisit the storm because of two…