This 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.
Harvard 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)
The 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.
A well annotated graphic from the NYT. Over at Visual Journalism, they point out the design differences between the print and online versions of this graphic.
A nice interactive analysis of Chinese investment. Click on the sector symbols below the colored bar graph to filter the data.
In: Emerging Markets Finance Global Economy Interactive Maps Source: WSJ
15 Sep 2011Cheap money and slow growth in the advanced countries has led to large capital flows to emerging market countries, as this interactive tool from the WSJ shows. If you mouse over each country you can view countries’ policy responses. I really like these map/graph combo designs – the two go very well together.
I’m posting this more because it’s an example of a well designed cartogram map, more than because of the content. (via)
An interactive map and table of the test results, showing debt levels by bank.
note: access to some FT features require a subscription.
National Geographic mashed together income-level and population distribution to make this beautiful map.
The OECD’s Better Life Index covers 34 countries and is based on 11 topics (housing, income, jobs, community, education, environment, governance, health, life satisfaction, safety, and work-life balance). The ratings are graphed as (kind of) cute petals on country “flowers”. The cool part of their interactive data exploration tool is that you can assign your own priorities as to which of the 11 topics is most important, and see how countries’ rankings change. You could quibble with the statistical accuracy of some of the indicators – but overall, it’s a well executed cross-country comparison.
A structured sankey diagram showing 2005 energy production and consumption, broken down several different ways.
Visualization of several United Nations indices on education, income, and health. I’m not quite sure what the point of using a “tree” is, but they obviously put some thought into it: The height of the tree trunk is proportional to the total value of the HDI. The size of the three branches are proportional to each sub-indicator. The branches are ordered in increasing order from left to right. The color of the trunk is the average of the color of the components.
Here’s a tree “legend”:
and a comparison of the United States and China:
An addictive collection of beautiful charts, graphs, maps, and interactive data visualization toys -- on topics from around the world.