Nathan Yau

Scale of Star Wars characters and ships

Infographics / scale, Star Wars

[arve url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHo_J5FtJ58″ /]
It’s the scale of significant Star Wars characters, objects, and…

Brewery Road Trip, Optimized With Genetic Algorithm

Data Underload / algorithm, breweries, optimization, road trip

Visit the best American breweries of 2018, based on RateBeer rankings, while minimizing travel time and distance.

Evolution of the periodic table of elements

Infographics / elements, Periodic Table, science

As more elements were discovered, the table grew and changed layout. For Science…

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Stolen Charts, Reusing Visualization Methods, and the Difference

The Process / learning, plagiarism

In visualization, there are tools, templates, and defaults, which are meant to be copied and reused. Then there are data graphics that are designed with a specific purpose and dataset, which are something more than a certain chart type.

Distorting geography to show train travels

Network Visualization / Jan Willem Tulp, train, travel

Jan Willem Tulp visualized train travel times using distance and color as an…

Map of Best Breweries in America, 2018

Data Underload / breweries, RateBeer

RateBeer puts out a list every year for top 100 breweries in the world. Here are the states that cracked the list.

Recursive painting in real life

Network Visualization / painting, recursion

It started with a mom holding her painting of a bird. Then someone…

Average view of Earth from space

Maps / average, Earth, satellite imagery

Using a year’s worth of daily images from NASA’s Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer…

How Many Kids We Have and When We Have Them

Data Underload / parenthood, pregnancy

Many parents stop at two kids. Most are done by three. Still, everyone has their own timelines. Here are 1,000 of them.

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Visualization Tools, Datasets, and Resources – January 2019 Roundup

The Process / roundup, tools

Throughout the month I collect new tools for data and visualization and additional resources on designing data graphics. Here’s the new stuff for January.

News story lifespan charts

Statistical Visualization / Google, news, Schema Design, trends

A wideout view of the news cycle can look like a series of…

Evolution of the alphabet

Infographics / alphabet, evolution, Matt Baker

Matt Baker provides this nifty diagram on how the alphabet changed over the…

Closeness in relationships over time, illustrated with a couple of lines

Infographics / cartoon, Olivia de Recat, relationships

Cartoonist Olivia de Recat illustrated the closeness over time for various relationships. Charming.…

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How to Make a Mosaic Plot in R

Tutorials / R

Also known as a Marimekko diagram, the mosaic plot lets you compare multiple qualitative variables at once. They can be useful, sometimes.

After Marriage, How Long People Wait to Have Kids

Data Underload / marriage, pregnancy

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in the baby carriage. Sometimes.

See every member’s path to the House of Representatives

Network Visualization / Congress, New York Times, Path

For The New York Times, Sahil Chinoy and Jessia Ma visualized the path…

xkcd: technical analysis

Infographics / humor, xkcd

Seems about right.…

Baby-Making Age

Data Underload / age, birth, pregnancy

We looked at prime dating age and when people usually marry. Now it’s time for the next step in the circle of life.

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Where to Find Data to Drive Your Visualization

The Process / datasets

Unfortunately, you can’t just conjure data out of thin air. Well, I guess you can, but it’d probably be sort of unreliable. Kind of. Maybe. So where do you find data? Here’s where I’m at in 2019.