Deconstructing Data Visualizations
With the highly growing access to information, and this wave of technological change sweeping across all industries, the problem no longer lies in acquiring information, but rather in sorting it out and deciphering it as effectively as possible. In other words, loads of data and information are in fact useless if they are not understood. Subsequently, data visualization is about interpreting and understanding the information you have at hand, it is about how data is presented in a manner that allows people to gain insights most effectively, and reveal certain patterns or relations connecting data points. Because of it visual interactive forms, “data visualisation has for some time been an integral part of visual storytelling in the press (Gynnild 2013).”
While searching I came across many different data visualizations, eventually I decided on the top three I have found interesting, which I will discuss in this blog post.
Welcome to Palestine, where the color of your license plate dictates the roads you can drive on. Another form of apartheid and discrimination, only a typical strategy practiced by the Zionist entity on the land of Palestine to oppress the Palestinians and deny them from yet another right, and that is the right of movement, as expressed through this visualization titled “Segregated Roads” done by the Visualizing Palestine non-profit organization.
The aim of this data visualization is to describe one of the aspects of the segregation faced by the Palestinians because of the Israeli occupation. Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza have green-on-white car plates, whereas Jerusalemites and Israeli ID holders (whether Palestinians living in the 1948 Occupied Territories or Israelis) have black-on-yellow ones, as shown in this visualization. As a result, cars with Palestinian license plates are not allowed on Israeli roads, even if the driver has an access permit into those Israeli-controlled areas, they will have to commute in different cars and are not allowed to drive. What is more shocking is that even on Palestinian roads, cars with Palestinian plates have restricted access, face endless delays at checkpoints and are subject to regular road blocks. On the other hand, cars with Israeli plates experience none of these difficulties.
The colors used in this visualization are the color of the Palestinian and Israeli car plates, as well as grey which is the color of the roads, in an attempt to engage the viewer in this experience and invite them to imagine a road system in which the color of your license plate determines your mobility. Moreover, the visualization explains the different types of roads using different colors and symbols in order to help the viewers differentiate identify different types of roads, their names and location, in addition to Israeli checkpoints one may encounter along the way. Can it possibly get more complicated? I don’t think so.. However, this visualization successfully interprets the situation in a clear, objective, and well-supported manner.
Moving on from Palestine to the rest of the world in the below visualization “Light In Lights Out,” which takes us on a quick tour around the world from its darkest places to the brightest ones. This heat map shows a comparative illumination of the night sky between 2012 and 2016 based on NASA’s 2012 image of the Earth at night, and compared to how it has become. It offers a highly intriguing experience for its audience by not only giving them the opportunity to see how different places of the world were, and probably still are, affected; but also reveals both progress and tragedy.
This heat map shows a comparative illumination of the night sky between 2012 and 2016 based on NASA’s 2012 image of the Earth at night, and compared to how it has become. It offers a highly intriguing experience for its audience by not only giving them the opportunity to see how different places of the world were, and probably still are, affected; but also reveals both progress and tragedy. In one single picture, ambition, human development, and violence were visibly and vividly depicted by using de-saturated imagery that allows the data to jump off the screen, captures a sense of nighttime realism, and provides context all at the same time.
Blue represents new night lights, and pink represents distinguished night lights.
Taking a closer look, recent electrification in rural northern is and indication of suburban growth and enhanced quality of life.
On the other hand, Syria is struck with darkness after years of the ongoing civil war. The lights in Syria are extinguished due to the war that led to the collapse of population and infrastructure
This map does not only show where lights were switched on and off, it truly represents concepts of both extremes, between development and destruction.
On a lighter note, the below data visualization is for dog lovers.
Dog breeds are rated by their beneficial traits such as intelligence and longevity, and other possible negative ones such as cost, grooming, and size of appetite; with examined data according to the American Kennel Club.
All dogs are color coded according to their breed, with their size depicted respective with their intelligence. The verdict of the visualization is that Bulldogs are inexplicably overrated, while Border Terriers are probably the best and should be adopted by everyone.
This may be a fun visualization to look at and analyze, however, it is not really helpful for those who are actually considering adopting/buying a dog. Would someone really turn down a dog because they have a big appetite for food? And more logically speaking, Brittany dogs, that are bred primarily for bird hunting, are one of the highest ranked dogs on the chart, but would they possibly fit into a tiny apartment without it turning into a disaster?
