In making an ever-important comparison between McDonald’s locations and golf courses in the United States, I wanted to use Dorling cartograms to show counts and which was more common in a given location. But my data wasn’t shaped quite right, so I broke it down and used parts of previous projects and tutorials. Become a member for access to this — plus tutorials, courses, and guides ..read more

In 1942, Franklin Delano Roosevelt mandated that those of Japanese descent be sent to prison camps. Through the lens of recently released Census records, the San Francisco Chronicle examined the impact of forcing thousands of residents out of their homes. Over nearly a year, the Chronicle collected and analyzed this data, seeking to understand just how Executive Order 9066 reshaped Japantown. For the first time, we can count the number of Japanese American residents in the neighborhood in 1940 and 1950 — an unequivocal measure of the order’s disastrous effect on the community. Tags: census ..read more

For Bloomberg, Daniela Sirtori, Madeline Campbell, and Marie Patino do some product counting: Data collected by the California Department of Public Health showed 108 potentially harmful substances listed as fragrance ingredients in everyday products ranging from face wash to conditioner, a Bloomberg analysis of database entries as of Feb. 6 found. Some of the compounds are identified as potential carcinogens by authorities such as the World Health Organization. Scaled jars of cream are used to show ingredient categories. I like it. Tags: Bloomberg, ingredient, safety ..read more

The National Longitudinal Surveys from the Bureau of Labor Statistics are unique in that they run long-term to survey the lives of individuals for decades. For The Pudding, Alvin Chang visualized survey responses to show how adversity as a teenager carries into adulthood. Each person icon represents a respondent and the collective bar chart stacks track through the years. The icons run across the screen on each time segment and demographic shift. There’s a video version, shown below, and while I enjoy Alvin’s dulcet voice, I prefer the scrolling version. Tags: Alvin Chang, development, Puddi ..read more

A decade and a half ago, I wrote the first edition of Visualize This as a how-to guide to my past self. It was for someone who was familiar with visualization but was stuck on the part where it’s time to make and design charts with your own data. What tools should you use? How do you use them? How do you get from rough sketch to finished graphic? How do you get the visualization idea in your imagination on to a screen where others can see? It turns out that you can read and learn a lot about visualization — the chart types, the best visual encodings, design considerations, and purpose — withou ..read more

The histogram is my favorite chart type to look at distributions, but it’s a tough sell as a communication method. People need a sense of how distributions work before they can make sense of a histogram. Here’s how I (try to) make these misunderstood charts easier to read. Become a member for access to this — plus tutorials, courses, and guides ..read more

As you might expect, the path of totality brought increased activities as people tried to get in the right spots. For the New York Times, Charlie Smart mapped the movements based on activity data from Mapbox and traffic data from TomTom. Tags: eclipse, New York Times, people ..read more

In our earlier years, we tend to date and marry others who are around our age. However, this is not true for everyone. Variation kicks in when you look at the later years, consider multiple marriages, divorce, separation, and opposite-sex versus same-sex relationships. This chart breaks it all down. Read More ..read more

From xkcd, a Rube Goldberg machine that keeps on going. Edit a cell by adding xkcd-esque objects and watch the balls fall and bounce to neighboring cells. Tags: Rube Goldberg machine, xkcd ..read more

Maybe you heard there’s a total eclipse happening today. AirDNA mapped Airbnb occupancy rates over the week. There might be a pattern. The anticipation of the solar eclipse has transformed an otherwise ordinary Monday into a lucrative opportunity for STR hosts located within the path of totality. As of March 25th, occupancy rates for April 7th have soared to an impressive 88% across all listings. This represents a massive surge in demand for accommodations on the night before the big celestial event. Tags: Airbnb, AirDNA, eclipse ..read more