Insight

8 visual content pieces you need to see this week – ICYMI Vol. 27

Missing your data-led visual content fix? Fear not, we got you. From a rock star tube map (we are looking at you, tube strike!) to the viral Coca Cola effects infographic the team at infogr8 have curated the most inspiring and interesting visual content we have stumbled on this week. 

Rockmap

Ernesto Lago

Lets go ride the rock train courtesy of designer Ernesto Lago. Taking the London Underground map as inspiration, Ernesto has created a comprehensive study on the evolution of rock music from its origins in the blues music of the Mississippi delta in the 50’s through the mind altering vibes of the 60’s psychedelic rock, the big hair and offensive colours of the 80’s glam metal all the way up to moody grunge movement of the 90’s. Using the zones for the decades and some of the most influential practitioners of each genre as stations you can track the evolution of a particular style of rock music, what genre influenced it and what it went on to influence. So if you want to track where your flavour of rock came from, tap into your favourite station and travel the train lines over the rock landscape.

These 6 Charts Show Why Katrina Was The Storm From Hell

Buzzfeed

Hard to imagine that it was 10 years ago when the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Mississippi was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Costing more than 1,200 people their lives and property damage estimated at $108 billion, Katrina was by far the most destructive Atlantic storm to hit the United States in History. Buzzfeed News has sourced the facts, figures and maps to help consicely illustrate what effects this epic disaster had on the area. They visualise the unusually destructive storm season through maps and charts showing everything from storm patterns to the flood levels, showing how Hurricane Katrina topped the charts in many areas earning its title of ‘the storm from hell’.

A Visual Introduction to Machine Learning

Tony Chu and Stephanie Yee

We saw the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, and if the HAL 9000 character is anything to go by, humans have a lot to fear when artificial intelligence becomes able to think independently. To be honest, we don’t have the foggiest how a machine can ‘learn’ and become smarter than the person who designed it, but this scrollable story from the minds of Tony Chu and Stephanie Yee provides a tantalising glimpse into the way machines think and make prediction. Using an analogy of determining whether a home is in San Francisco or in New York, we are shown how various factors are taken into consideration and data patterns are identified before an decision is reached, with ever improving results. Even the great professor Stephen Hawking has remarked that thinking machines pose a threat to our very existence. These are indeed worrying times. 

Hungarian GP

Ferrari

Formula One has a long history and has seen some great races over the years, but the might of the Mercedes of late hasn’t been great for us racing fans, with those cars typically finishing miles ahead of the pack. The Hungarian Grand Pix last weekend was different though, with Ferrari showing their dominance from the start, and a series of collisions across the field keeping us on the edge of our seats. In fact if anything there was too much going on, and we were barely able to keep up with all the events on circuit. To celebrate a well earned victory and to allow everyone to see how this was achieved, Ferrari have created a scrollable story that visualises all the passing and key events from the moment the lights turned out to the checkered flag. If races continue to be as action packed as those at the Hungaroring, we welcome all the help we can get to follow the action unfold.

Duty Of Care: Protecting Children In War

TOAD

The great thing about computer gaming is that we can step into the virtual shoes of just about anyone and experience events that we would never encounter in real life. We have already traversed war zones as a soldier in titles such as Call of Duty, but now War Child U.K. presents a very different perspective. Together with the agency TOAD  they have produced a video that allows us to envision the world from the view of a small girl named Nima. As she runs to avoid the crossfire in her war-torn home, we experience the harrowing events that so many children unfortunately do so for real. The reality is that over half of those affected by conflict are children, yet under 3% of humanitarian funding is spent on protecting them. Unlike in video games, they have no spare lives or continues. Add your voice by signing the War Child U.K. petition.

How Startup Funding Works

Funders and Founders

It’s incredible to think that some of the worlds largest and most valuable companies such as Apple started life in basements and garages. But everything has to start from and idea, and as companies grow they go through a number of stages which involves co-founders, friends and family, venture capitalists, and anyone who is willing to buy shares. At each stage the slice of the pie that any individual owns decreased, however the increasing value of the company ensures everyone is rewarded with an increased return. An infographic from Funders and Founders visualises this process beautifully, showing the evolution from a single founder, up to a multi national conglomerate. Their Behance page even shows the design process and considerations that were made while producing this piece, including sketches, wireframes and additional refinements, much like the 8-step process used by ourselves at infogr8. 

A Visualisation of Startup Births and Deaths in “Real Time”

Gasoline

Every year thousands upon thousands of people across the world take the plunge into owning their own business, we live in an age of startups and entrepreneurs and now there are more people becoming their own bosses than ever before, and while many of these ventures succeed and go on to become great businesses, just as many startups fail and see their dream fade into the ether.  Unfortunately it’s never as simple as putting the gasoline in and starting her up 🙂 To help visualise this the good people over at Gasoline have constructed a ‘live startup dashboard’ to show the births and deaths of startups in ‘realtime’. When you open the page the counters start to tick forward from zero increasing with every passing second, visualising in the time since the page has been opened how many startups have just been born and those that have met their end. The main information comes in the form of the total worldwide startups births and deaths as well as the money invested, it then goes on to break down this information by category showing who is launching these startups in the US.

What Happens One Hour After Drinking a Can of Coke

The Renegade Pharmacist

Well, firstly what happened one hour after this infographic went live? It went viral. Coca Cola is one of the most beloved brands on the planet, reaching beyond its product and becoming a pop culture icon in its own right. Even in a recent ad campaign featuring some of the biggest pop icons of the past in where Coca Cola claimed to have ‘kissed’ them, going on the popularity of the drink Worldwide most of us would say we have had a ‘kiss’ from Coke at some point in our lives. But in reality we all know it doesn’t quite have the benefits of say water, but just what exactly happens to our bodies when we drink a can of Coke? Well The Renegade Pharmacist has created a infographic that outlines what exactly happens to us on one hour after consuming the drink, and its pretty shocking stuff! The graphic brings you through each stage of how Coke influences your system, from how your body fights off the insane sugar content (1 can is equal to 100% of your daily recommended sugar intake), which spikes your blood sugar to almost giddy levels, to the inevitable sugar crash that hits you an hour later.

We’ll be sharing more inspiration next Friday, for now you can follow the team on Twitter @infogr8. Please tweet & share your viz spotting stories to be considered for our future rounds ups. #vizspotting #ddj.

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