I love it when someone takes data, and crafts a well designed, well thought out informative piece. The video below and the interactive website for “The Fallen of World War II” is one of those pieces. Designed and animated by Neil Halloran, this data visualization breaks down military and civilian casualties in the 6 year conflict and compares them to other military conflicts past and present. The information is presented in a straightforward fact driven way, that hooks the viewer and draws them in. Especially when you see the numbers in comparison to each country, and presented on the timeline. The interactive site, has a ticket price for admission. The recommended price is $2.50, and is completely worth the experience if you are into history, numbers, and data. The animated documentary runs just under 20 minutes, but is really worth watching. It’s a great lesson on the human cost of war, and mans inhumanity to man. It also points out some very interesting facts about who is fighting with whom since World War II ended.
Data Visualization
More Than The Score.
I never saw this promo air during the US Open. It might have played locally, but since I tend to mute, pause and skip, or record then blast past ads, I probably just missed it. Produced by BUCK for IBM and Ogilvy & Mather, the animated short features loads of data visualizations done up in an entertaining way, set to the beat of Andrew W.K’s “I Love New York City”. In typical fashion BUCK nails the animation and brand styling for IBM. It’s worth watching all the way through if for no other reason than the facts they present about the US Open and New York. Oh they get extra points for going with a square format for the finished piece.
The World is Going to End. Let’s Have a Drink.
The world is a wonderful and scary place at times, and the folks over at Information is Beautiful want to show you that. This morning while doing a bit of research on data visualization, I came across 2 infographic pieces that have nothing to do with each other directly, but made me want to post both of them.
The first deals with the distant future and the fact that everything is going to die. Yes it looks way into the future of planet earth, all the way up to the point where it is consumed by the sun and dies. The second makes you feel all better by providing you with drink recipes broken down by proportion, so you can drown your sorrows as you reflect on the inevitability of earths ultimate demise. Now I’m not going to lie, some of the drinks recipes seem a bit off to me, and there are some classics that are missing. None the less, I’ll be printing this out for future reference. click on the image to view larger.
Juan Velasco on Infographics
Former National Geographic Art Director Juan Velasco sat down with Gestalten last fall for an interview following his two day workshop on data visualization and infographics. In the video below he talks about the differences between visual journalism and written reporting. In addition he explains his process for developing clear narratives and talks about the ever evolving field of infographics and data visualization. It’s a pretty interesting little video, even if you aren’t an infographics or data visualization creator.
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