There ’s been a fleet and concerted backlash against price like “ infographic,”and for good reason . But that does n’t signify that there are n’t information journalists and intriguer doing grand body of work — from The New York Times ’ Graphics Desk to National Geographic ’s figure team .
The Best American Infographics 2014 , a new script from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt , collect some of the practiced visualizations of the yr in lovely large - format . In an instauration , FiveThirtyEight‘s Nate Silver describes how data invention is n’t just about figure — it ’s inherently link to journalism ; to telling a story visually . “ At the core of journalism is the mission of making sentiency of our complex world to a broad audience , ” he writes . “ newsroom from The New York Times to Buzzfeed spot stress on gathering selective information . But they ’re also in the business of organise that information into form like stories . ”
Below , you ’ll find several art admit in the Word — many pulled from newspapers and magazines — that each practice data to parse a broader story about the world that goes far beyond numbers .
Colonial Europeans talked a pretttttty big secret plan about the Age of Exploration — plot that is somewhat less telling when reckon in light of the fact that many of these “ newly - strike ” lands had been inhabit by humans for thou of years . Yale ’s Bill Rankin , who makes two appearances on this list thanks to his excellent work on his blog , Radicalcartography , decided to map out what discovery were really legitimate — which place were actually , truly unknown to humans before European explorers landed .
While the disputation over gun control wages on , some advocates are instead arguing for legislation that controls the bullets instead of the weapon system . Look no further than this Wired computer graphic , which demonstrates unbelievable volume of ammo being exported and imported to the US — the world loss leader in both metric unit . By tracing the path of ammo to and from difference of opinion zona , we get a glance at a hidden saving that is the very lifeblood of many ongoing wars .
A group of four researchers fromHumboldt State Universityspent eight months collecting tweet that include specific row bear on to hate — from racial epithets to put one over for the disabled to homophobic slurs — to create a geo - located function of mean language .
The conversational voice communication of the Midwest might not be as pressing as some of the other return on the table here , but it is perennial and pretty bloody hard to fit on ( as someone from Pittsburgh , an hour away from Ohio , I ’ve always felt unmoored from both the East Coast and Midwest ) .
This clever computer graphic — another great map by Bill Rankin — analyzes 100 maps publish by dissimilar organizations , each defining the “ Midwest , ” and creates a heat function evince what State they all harmonize on — and which are still in that pinkish “ grey-haired ” area . “ One significant thing to note here is that even though Illinois issue as the most midwestern state , there is no expanse that was included on every single map , ” Rankin writeson his web log . “ The amount of all possible Midwests , however , is incredibly immense , stretching from Newfoundland to New Mexico and Idaho to Georgia . ”
If there was ever an consequence in need of concise ocular account , it ’s the way in which major corporation are tax . In this May 2013 interactional from The New York Times ’ art desk , we get a look at the top S&P 500 troupe rank by revenue enhancement rate . Each company is present by a bubble , organize by portion tax rate and size by market capitalisation . As the NYT explains , the image shows how large companies are able to manipulate the amount of taxis they pay , using “ complex strategies not available to others . ” Explore the interactivehere .
Excerpted from The Best American Infographics 2014 by Gareth Cook . right of first publication © 2014 by Gareth Cook . Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company . All rights reserved .
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