eBay Eyes: Air Brake Portfolio

From time to time (like every other day) I see something on eBay that I wish I could buy but I don’t have the space for, the money for, or both. Sometimes I don't really want to own the item, but I am grateful to the seller for the creativity of the presentation or the quality of the photograph. In those cases, the display or the image becomes worthy in itself of a post.

For the inaugural installment of “eBay Eyes” I present this air brake portfolio from the Science of Railways Cyclopedia issued by the Railway Training Institute in 1927. The full portfolio  is 16"x 12" and runs 50 pages.

Wealth Distribution For Dummies, AGAIN

In November 2010, I posted the original “Wealth Distribution for Dummies.” As the election approaches, an updated version, reflecting the shift in wealth ownership since the end of the recession, seemed appropriate. Also, given how the distribution has become even more skewed, I figured a remedial session couldn’t hurt.

This is very straightforward. I’m going to let 100 people represent 100% of the U.S. population, and $100 represent the country’s wealth. One person will represent the top 1% of the population. The next 19 people are the rest the top 20%. The other 80 folks are the bottom 80%. Now let’s distribute $100  accordingly.

One person (above), gets $35.60 all to him/herself.

Ouch! That's quite a jump. That's one-thirteenth of what the super-rich guy has! No wonder regular rich folks don't think they should pay more taxes. Together these 19 people own $51.60. That's about half of the $100. The top 20% as a whole, owns $87.20 of the $100.

But wait! Here’s something to make them feel better. 

As a group, their total share of the $100 is $12.80. The 19 rich folks each have 17 times the wealth of each of these 80, and for the super-rich guy, it's a factor of 223. (So when Romney wanted to make a $10,000 bet with Rick Perry at the debate between the Republican candidates, it was the same as a regular guy offering to wager $45.)

New York Times columnist, Nicholas Kristof recently wrote about the topic of wealth distribution and very effectively had us imagine 100 kindergarteners sharing toys according to how wealth in the U.S. is actually distributed.

One avaricious little boy is jealously guarding a mountain of toys for himself. A handful of other children are quietly playing with a few toys each, while 90 of the children are looking on forlornly — empty-handed. The one greedy boy has hoarded more toys than all those 90 children put together!

Naturally, I was curious to see what toys can be purchased at the $35.60, $2.72, and $0.16 levels.

For toys under 20¢ you are on the low end of party favors bought in bulk. So things like a tiny cupcake-shaped eraser, or a mini pencil is all you can hope for there. 

Even the $2.72-level is not really all that thrilling for toys. Think basic water gun or a yo-yo.

For $35.60, however, there’s tons of stuff. Remote-control helicopters, fancy super-soakers, electric guitars, microscopes, and in the $25-$50 range for Lego, look what’s for sale--a White House!

The $50 price tag is tad out of reach for poor little rich boy. He will have to use a line of credit, or borrow from the other kids to make up the $14.40 he doesn’t have.

Believe it or not, there is good news for the 80 kids with mini erasers. The one super-rich kid only has one vote, and the next 19 kids only have 19 votes. But the 80 kids have 80 votes. That's four times the votes, the 20 rich kids have. 

DON’T WASTE YOUR VOTE BY ...

1.  NOT VOTING

2.  VOTING FOR SOMEONE

WHOSE ONLY INTEREST IS GETTING

HIMSELF INTO THE WHITE HOUSE

What got me started on trying to represent this disparity in wealth in the first place, was the study published a couple of years ago by Michael I. Norton and Dan Ariely about just how clueless Americans are as to how wealth is actually distributed in this country. Kristof also refers to the study and wonders if “perhaps nothing gets done because, in polls, Americans hugely underestimate the level of inequality here.”

I will spare you my rant from the original WDFD post, but I place a fair amount of blame for the warped perception of the American public, on the conventional data visualization used for charting wealth distribution. Below is a version of such a chart from the Economic Policy Institute. 

The image we see (and retain) is of the gently decreasing bands of wealth from top to bottom.  But we must read (and mentally imagine) what is most dramatic about the chart, namely the vastly incomparable populations being pictured (1%, 4%, 15%, 80%).  You can read the original rant here.

The World According to Marimekko

Well, the world according to Marimekko, starting with Helsinki. The map features favorite haunts of the ever-creative team at Finland's most colorful company. You won't be using this quirkily hand-drawn city plan to find specific intersections, but there are plenty of tools for that already. Check out the interactive version online. In the works: a map of Tokyo ...

And the “Malofiej” goes to …

Carl DeTorres took us through his IBM graphics

Given the recent explosion of interest in data visualization, I’m just assuming you’re all familiar with the Malofiej World Infographics Summit, which takes place every March in Pamplona, Spain.

Think Cannes Film Festival-meets-Ted-meets-World Economic Forum--but for infographics. This year’s confab being the 20^th, was a star-studded affair. Conference mastermind, Javier Errea, who is president of SND Spain, programmed two full days of back-to-back presentations. It made for an exhausting, yet exhilarating event. The roster of presenters, needless to say, was who’s who of Visual Journalism. (i.e. Nigel Holmes, Jaime Serra, Carl de Torres, Bryan Christie, Alberto Cairo, and John Grimwade to name a few).

The conference culminated in an awards ceremony for graphics created during 2011. The New York Times made its usual sweep, winning six of the eight Gold Medals awarded and a full one-third of the total 111 “Malos.” (I doubt “Malo” would go over in Spain as a name for an award, which, come to think of it, is probably why it’s never been used. I like it, though, in a 90s hip-hop bad-means-good kind of way.)

Design assignment: Brand this award with a nickname and trophy!

I tried making a Pin Board of the print winners. Easier said than done. Many of the graphics are not findable, and often, the print graphics have very different online versions.

Alas, many winning graphics I was able to locate are not pinnable (i.e. Nat Geo, South China News). It’s just a bit unfortunate because a “pin” retains its original-source link, and that provides an opportunity to experience sites you might not necessarily visit.  As it is, a number of the images I’ve linked to, are posts from other blogs. 

“It’s the beauty, stupid” is how I would summarize Bryan Christie’s message. Beauty, of course, cannot be defined, or taught, but we all know how powerful it is. Bryan’s epiphany upon seeing Michelangelo’s Pieta in Rome was that the force with which beauty communicates is not to be ignored by anyone, let alone an information designer. It has forever changed his work, and it is a large component of what we find so sublimely compelling about his anatomical and medical illustration.

Matthew Bloch’s map for the New York Times showing taxi rides per hour over an entire week in Manhattan involved close to two million data points and much experimentation.

We were all envious of Nigel Holmes’s artistic license authorizing him to “combine pictures and information.” We were also envious of his grandchildren for whom he makes wonderful toys from found materials.

Much thanks goes to Professor Michael Stoll who provided an exhibit of some mouthwatering vintage infographics from his collection. On display, in addition to large panels of reproductions, were original books and documents. Visit Michael’s Flickr galleries, at your own risk. Once entering, you might never emerge.

Euskara fonts popularized at the end of the 19^th century, with the emergence of Basque nationalism can be found throughout Pamplona, from the stenciling on dumpsters to shop and restaurant signage. Read more about Basque typography at Social Design Notes.

Another graphic feature you’ll see in the city is the stylized scallop shell signifying that you are on the Camino de Santiago/ Way of St. James/Chemin de St. Jacques, the pilgrimage route that leads to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. Luckily the pilgrimage must be walked on foot, so Shell Oil has no tie-in here.

Model of Pamplona at the city’s Archive.

A Nanosecond Made Visible

This clip of computer pioneer, Rear Admiral Grace Hopper visually explaining a nanosecond is so complete, that it needs no introduction, or summation. I have nothing to say except WATCH IT! 

I promise you a most satisfying data visualization experience.

via It's Okay To Be Smart

IN GRAPHICS Magazine

During my trip to Berlin in August, I visited with infographics specialist Jan Schwochow. Jan and his talented team at Golden Section Graphics had just recently published Volume 2 of his wildly ambitious, independently and beautifully produced magazine, IN GRAPHICS.

While the sections of the 90-page issue are completely familiar-- politics, technology, sports, entertainment, etc., IN GRAPHICS is no ordinary magazine. Instead of running text and occasional photos or illustration, the content is displayed entirely in the form of infographics. Text is in German and English.

The cover story of Volume 2 takes on the events and aftermath of 9/11. We are first presented with a spread of front–page coverage of over a hundred publications from around the world. The six spreads that follow use diagrams, illustration, timelines, and quantitative charts to digest data and information of the last ten years. They are all thoughtfully conceived, meticulously researched and exquisitely executed.

THE DAY THAT CHANGED THE WORLD


ATTACK ON THE WORLD TRADE CENTER


3RD TARGET: THE PENTAGON! AND THE WHITE HOUSE?


TERROR TRACES
How the terrorists prepared themselves for the attacks in the USA


TERROR IN NUMBERS


CIVILIAN CASUATIES


THE NEW WORLD TRADE CENTER

In addition to his technical expertise and years of experience, Jan has a great knowledge and interest in information graphics history. His ability to incorporate design solutions from the past, with cutting edge visualization techniques, creates work that is rich and sophisticated with plenty of fresh visualization surprises.


Even the contents page is a visual display.

Both volumes of IN GRAPHICS are available for shipping throughout Europe from Amazon.de. For shipping to the U.S., you can order from the Golden Section online shop directly.

A handful of bookstores in Germany, Amsterdam, London and Vienna also sell the magazines. If you are traveling in Europe, I suggest you use this list as a general resource for the coolest bookstores there are.

DIY Stonehenge: Infographic

[via geek in heels, via Flavorwire, via Designboom]
Some 18,000 people gathered at Stonehenge yesterday to witness sunrise on the day of the summer solstice. To welcome the new season, I’m sharing the IKEA assembly instructions for the ancient monument. This awesome infographic by Justin Pollard, John Lloyd and Stevyn Colgan, appeared in this year’s Qi Annual.

Small print at the bottom:

Important! Ensure all components are free from mud, dung and evil spirits before assembly. Wear appropriate safety equipment (spear, flint knife etc.) in the event of bears. Small parts are not included.

If plagued by demons or suffering from pestilence, seek advice from a druid before attempting assembly.

May contain quartz.

I’m pretty sure you need to supply your own magician and beer. Also, there's is no mention of lingonberry preserves, but they are a must for human sacrifice.

Just a few pix ...
Solstice, 2011. via Daily Mail.

Solstice, 1984.Photo copyright Alan Lodge.
via Andy Worhington

Residue of the 36,500-person solstice gathering in 2009. Daily Mail

Stonehenge News and Information urges solstice revelers to
use public transportation.

Du Bois Charts: Twittered, Tumbld, Stumbled, fffound

African American women on the steps of a building at Atlanta University, 1899 or 1900. Photo by Thomas E. Askew (Du Bois archive, Library of Congress)

Two weeks ago ( I know, that's a bout a decade in internet time), I posted the awesome charts that W. E. B. Du Bois and his students at Atlanta University produced for the Paris Exposition in 1900. I still haven’t quite processed the overwhelming response to this work. Not only has the massive amount of tweeting and reblogging, sent my page views through the roof, but the charts have gotten attention way beyond the infographic and design communities. They have been posted on political blogs and have sparked some lively debate.

So if you were one of the scores of viewers smitten by these infographics, know that you were/are not alone. And much thanks to all who passed them along. The networked enthusiasm created so much visibility for the Du Bois chart, that John Pavlus of Fast Company featured them on FastCo Design as Infographic of the Day. They were also posted by David McCandless as Vintage Infoporn on Information is Beautiful.


Here are some highlights from the bloggesphere:

Adam Serwer of the Prospect observes that “…you can get a hint from this of the days when teachers at black schools were among the best in the country -- Jim Crow was funneling the most educated black minds into a very limited set of professions.

Yglesias of Think Progress picks up from Serwer, “As you can see here, a staggeringly high proportion of Atlanta University graduates were becoming teachers… This and the parallel set of facts for women is, I think, an unduly neglected trend in recent American life. A related point is that you tended to see relatively high-performing K-12 education systems in Communist countries. Jim Crow, patriarchy, and the economic policies of Fidel Castro are all ways to artificially increase the appeal of a teaching career relative to other options … When teaching was the only thing many classes of smart ambitious people could do, it was easier to run a high-performing school. 33 comments followed that post.

Derek Attig at HASTAC considers the display of these charts in Paris, a political act. For him, they were more proof of “…how important circulating information transnationally could be for civil rights struggles. As Ida B. Wells had demonstrated just seven years earlier, with her anti-lynching speaking tours of Britain [PDF], getting information out of the South, and indeed, out of the United States, could be a vital part of such campaigns. (Abolitionists in the antebellum period frequently made similar transatlantic tours, as well.) …

Given the language-barrier problems that could confront Americans at a global exposition in Paris, the highly graphic (and lightly textual) nature of so many of the posters indicates some careful thought about the politics of communicating information and capturing attention, which are so central to freedom struggles of all kinds.”

Jacob Alonso, of Seeing Complexity, also sees visualizing information as a political act: “Du Bois’ students made a radical decision when they visualized the economic plight of a group explicitly excluded from statistical analysis and thus hidden from international attention. …the simple act of disseminating information can, in itself, be a radical and potentially transformative act.”


And then there was the ultimate indication of how important these charts are—an anonymous reader commented that the graphics were obvious fakes!