Data + Design Project

An Interactive Map of North American English Dialects

Friday 05.10.2013 , Posted by

Interactive Map of North American English Dialects header

Because of the massive popularity of Hollywood movies, most people in the world (including Americans) assume that people in the US all sound like they’re from California, and in particular Southern California. This intensely detailed map created by linguist Rick Aschmann in his free time, tracks the highly diverse dialects in North American English, from the soothing drawl of the American South, to the broad-A’s of Boston. To back up his many examples, Aschmann’s large map is interactive, allowing users to click on locations to see Youtube videos or listen to audio samples featuring people speaking. [Read more...]

Vintage Panorama Honors NYC Historic Landmarks

Monday 04.15.2013 , Posted by

Robert Moses New York Panorama 2

For people who haven’t visited, the Queens Museum of Art houses one of the most fantastic treasures of New York City… at least for the map obsessed. Their “crowning jewel” is the Panorama of the City of New York, a massive (no, behemoth!) model of the city built for the 1964 World’s Fair that covers a staggering 9,335 square feet (867 sq meters). The model includes every single building constructed before 1992 in all five boroughs, encompassing 895,000 individual structures. Now this historic map is being used to highlight the cities landmark historic districts and encourage preservation in a city known for its vibrant history. [Read more...]

How Fast the US Became Obese: Animated Map

Thursday 04.11.2013 , Posted by

US obesity header

It’s no secret that the US has a weight problem, but do you know how fast the country got fat? I’ll be honest, when I first saw this map animated by The Atlantic, my jaw literally dropped when it reached the 2000s… many states explode from around 20% obesity to over 30%. In just my lifetime (I was born in 1980) the whole US has gone from a relatively thin country to a place where the norm in many areas is to be overweight to obese. [Read more...]

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Water Map: A Flat Wood Sink Modeled After London

Wednesday 04.03.2013 , Posted by

Julia Kononenko Water Map 1

Seemingly flat sinks are hot these days, with many designs being produced that have little or no conventional basin. For many people, that’s not too much of a problem – most of our water splashing happens in the shower anyway. Now Julia Kononenko, a designer from Kharkiv, Ukraine, has taken the flat sink concept in a new direction, creating a laminated wood block featuring a pattern of channels modeled after the streets of central London. When used, the (presumably slow flowing) water enters the channels and subtly travels to a drain hidden in the back. [Read more...]

Two Superb, Hand-Drawn Maps of London

Monday 03.25.2013 , Posted by

Wellingtons Travel Map of London 2

When I visited Rome last summer I picked up a free, hand-drawn map of the city. To be honest I wasn’t expecting much, but when I started navigating using the small map, I was astounded at the detail it contained in each hand-drawn line. To be finding my way around the ancient city using only someone’s fine penmanship was like stepping back into the bygone era of hand-made cartography. Today we have Google Maps. It’s a tool which blows away any hand-created map as far as accuracy and search-ability, but something is certainly lost in the aesthetic beauty and ability to roll out a large city on the table before you. These fine maps of London from Wellingtons Travel, bring back the maps of old and do it with useful style. [Read more...]

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Drop that Pin for Real: City Maps Printed on Felt

Wednesday 03.06.2013 , Posted by

Palomar Pincity Pinworld Felt Wall Map 6

Do you have a favorite city you’ve collected memories while exploring? Do you work in a major city and have events happening you’d like to remember geographically? These creative maps from Italian design house Palomar look to fill that niche, providing maps of cities from London to New York printed on a polymer felt surface and delivered with 15 custom pins to mark places or hang location based items you’d like to remember. [Read more...]

Fluorescent Animals Painted On Celestial Maps

Monday 03.04.2013 , Posted by

1 Louise McNaught

“In my world the animals are God-like, sublime and ethereal in their luminescence” states London-based artist Louise McNaught. Though all of her work shares a common faunal theme, each piece is refreshing and bold. She chooses neon acrylic coloring so that the viewer’s eyes are immediately drawn in awe to the beautiful creature before them. By elevating the status of animals in her work, McNaught hopes to inspire people to think about mankind’s delicate relationship with nature. [Read more...]

A Map of Beirut in Rubber

Tuesday 02.05.2013 , Posted by

Marwan Rechmaoui Rubber Map Beirut Caoutchouc 6

Beirut is a vibrant place with a storied past… one which has left the city covered in scars that are still being repaired. Lebanese artist Marwan Rechmaoui often works with themes of urban development and social history revolving around his home country – in this case a large, floor based map of the current city layout. Titled Beirut Caoutchouc, the coastal Mediterranean city is recreated with heavy pieces of rubber embossed with roads, byways and segmented into 60 individual pieces that demarcate neighborhoods. [Read more...]

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Below the Boat: Underwater Topo Maps Made of Wood

Saturday 01.05.2013 , Posted by

Below the Boat 8

There are few things more interesting to study than a good map… add some detail to it in the form of topographical data, and you could have the people here at Visual News obsessed for hours. The maps we bring you here have one added ingredient: a healthy dose of artisan beauty. Made by Bellingham, Washington based chart purveyor Below the Boat, each of their many map designs detail the underwater features of famous bodies of water by laser cutting and layering pieces of wood. [Read more...]

The Difference Between Holland and the Netherlands

Friday 12.28.2012 , Posted by

CGP Grey Holland 3

Next time you’re off to Holland to pick some tulips you’re going to be far, far more informed about the place… and far more correct in identifying what it is. As this excellent and quickly paced video from the epic CPG Grey points out, there is a massive misunderstanding about the tulip growing, windmill building, hagelslag eating, container ship moving, ocean conquering nation… most importantly that it’s called the Netherlands and “Holland” is actually just its two most populous provinces. [Read more...]

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