My favorite data visualizations of 2018
Throughout the past few years the quality of data visualizations and use of them has increased dramatically. Data journalism and visualizations have become less of a novelty and are now mainstays in journalism. Those graphics, illustrations and interactive data sets disseminate information in ways words alone cannot, a big reason why Grafiti cares about them as much as they do.
As a content creator and partnership assistant at Grafiti, I have a strong love of these graphics due to the amount of information they convey as well as the sheer creativity emanating from each one. These data visualizations inspire me as a creator and make me want to learn more coding and art skills to create similar projects.
In no specific order, here are some of my favorite data visualizations from the year:
Financial Times
How data analysis helps football clubs make better signings
After soccer fans across the globe had celebrated the World Cup events throughout the summer, the Financial Times put together an informative soccer piece detailing how analytics are being used for training and recruitment. As basketball and baseball increasingly use analytics for player development, it’s exciting to see soccer teams join the fray.
New York Times
How Much Hotter Is Your Hometown Than When You Were Born?
Leading scientists around the world released a report alongside the United Nations with a warning that the world has 12 years to make large changes to fix a rapidly warming globe. The changes in temperature are evident with warmer holidays and winters, but it can be difficult to quantify the effects of those changes. The New York Times put together an interactive where you can find out just how much hotter the temperatures in your hometown has gotten since you were born.
The Pudding
Recently, Matt Daniels from The Pudding showcased the pockets of population density around the world. Asian countries such as India seem to be much denser than the rest of the world as countries like the United States spread out and create suburbs around cities, lowering the density.
South China Morning Post
Why the world’s flight paths are such a mess
When flying, especially on multiple connecting flights, it can be baffling to at the flight paths. Many times the routes seem scattered and inefficient but this visualization does a remarkable job at explaining the structure of the routes. The South China Morning Post goes in depth on the history of airspaces across the world and how politics affect the routes aircrafts take to get customers from point A to point B.
C82- Works of Nicholas Rougeux
Although many people are familiar with the moon landing and Neil Armstrong’s famous utterance of “one small step for man…,” people are generally not aware of the rest of the communications between Houston and the astronauts. C82’s interactive graphic of the Apollo 11 spaceflight shows every piece of communication and the amount of work was done on land and in space to ensure the astronauts safety as they cemented themselves in history.
