Maps Archive:
Interstates and Routes as Subway Map
In: Maps
19 Dec 2011I’m not a big fan of these subway map mashups, but I know some of you enjoy them. Designer Cameron Booth clearly did a lot of research and work to produce these representations of the Interstate highway system, and the old Route system.
Marriage on the Decline
14 Dec 2011The Washington Post added family type to it’s interactive map of census data (the map also allows you to filter over time, race, density, etc). You can zoom in and see how your county compares to the rest of the country. Interesting observations: Married people with children only make up 7% of Washington DC?!? Utah is one of the few remaining regions with high “married w/children” percentages, compared to previous years when it was more common across the country.
Just 51 percent of all adults who are 18 and older are married, placing them on the brink of becoming a minority, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of census statistics to be released Wednesday. That represents a steep drop from 57 percent who were married in 2000… In 1960, for example, when most baby boomers were children, 72 percent of all adults were married. The median age for brides was barely 20, and the grooms were just a couple of years older. (related article)
Antarctica’s Underground
5 Dec 2011Using ice penetrating radar, scientists have mapped out the ground and mountains that lie beneath Antarctica’s ice sheets. The project is interesting because it draws on decades of work from many different teams and datasets, and will help create more accurate models of melt rates.
Road Casualties (2001-09)
In: History Interactive Maps
29 Nov 2011
Cross-Border Investment Map
16 Nov 2011This is an interesting example because they really tried to have every part of the graphic convey information: color, size, and line type. (via The Big Picture)
If you look at the 2011 update of the report, you can see they have used a similar, but somewhat cleaner design. The labels are all clearer, and the use of a lighter background map and grey text improves the contrast considerably. Finally, I think using the color of the arrows instead of width for the value was a good call – as that’s easier for the eye to distinguish.
Unfortunately, I don’t know of any software that let’s you produce these quickly – you generally have to draw them by hand.
What Your Favorite Map Projection Says About You
15 Nov 2011Personally, I like to stare at the Peters when I’m pondering global issues, but I use the Winkel-Tripel when I’m double checking a choropleth or cartogram and need to be sure which shape in the middle of eastern Europe really is Slovenia – I have large versions of both on my office walls.
Atlas of Economic Complexity
8 Nov 2011Harvard has released an interesting new index of “economic complexity” which is the productive knowledge of the economy, based on analysis of its output composition.
… the Economic Complexity Index (ECI) is based on the number and the complexity of the products that a country exports with comparative advantage. Empirically, countries that do well in this index, given their income level, tend to achieve higher levels of economic growth. The ability to successfully export new products is a reflection of the fact that the country has acquired new productive knowledge that will then open up further opportunities for progress.
The index is then used to make detailed growth projections, and identify export opportunities on a country-by-country basis.
There are also interactive versions of most of these visualizations that you can explore and filter:
(via)
European Twitter Languages
2 Nov 2011Eric Fischer analyzed twitter meta data for location and language and ended up with a pretty good approximation of the normal geopolitical borders. He chose grey for English, since they speak that everywhere – it would be interesting to see a map of just English. There’s also a world version. (via FlowingData)
United Bases of America
2 Nov 2011
Evolution of Western Dance Music
In: Culture Interactive Maps
2 Nov 2011An interactive timeline showing (roughly) the origins and evolution of different genres of dance music. I wish you could filter to see the connections a little clearer.
The Road to 7 Billion
27 Oct 2011The Financial Times has pulled together some interactive visualizations of world demographics as we approach 7 billion people. I would have liked to see the population pyramids for more countries. The fertility/education graph is a bit shocking.
Note: Some FT features require a subscription.
Washington DC Housing Prices
11 Oct 2011A nicely annotated analysis of changing house prices in the DC region. The main graphic shows how much you would need to earn to buy a “typical single family home”. There is also an interactive version which lets you compare information for different time periods and look at condo vs house sales. (related article)
Chinese Investment Abroad
4 Oct 2011A nice interactive analysis of Chinese investment. Click on the sector symbols below the colored bar graph to filter the data.
Female World Leaders
29 Sep 2011
Weather and Conception
26 Sep 2011Statistics indicate that more people are born in the fall (in the USA anyway), with the quick explanation being that we have more sex during the winter holidays (9 months earlier). GE takes a cut at this notion by comparing average temperatures and deviations from the national average birthrate. Statistically, however, using annual data adds enough noise in my mind to make drawing conclusions kind of tough. Anyone want to dig up the monthly data (even for one state) and do a lagged scatter plot? Hmmmm… how would you seasonally adjust this data?
(one minor complaint: the 3d scale is interesting for comparing states, but you can’t tell what the values are for any of them because of the angle)
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- RJS: Highly entertaining this, however misleading it might be--if indeed it is misleading. The problem is [...]
- Al: Designers out there will enjoy this 'making of', walking through the designs they tried and discarde [...]
- Matt: Totally misleading. The recent spending cuts were not an Obama policy; Afghanistan was overwhelmingl [...]
- Mike Liveright: Two comments, though I do like the look and results... 1) Since $'s are linear, I think that a 2 [...]
- fatmike182: just a note concerning the photo of the car: it's an actual sculpture by the artist Erwin Wurm. Defi [...]