Map O’ The Day #46 – The History of Film & Gaming

Created by TrendONE / BVDW Virtual Think in Germany, this infographic shows a the history, current state, and future projections for the increasingly merged worlds of gaming and film. Worth a read through for those of you who are into either!

Map O’ The Day #45 – Burning Fuel

This MOTD was created by the NY Times as a part of a campaign to raise awareness around the fight against global warming. Aside from being visually appealing, the graphic shows the interesting comparison of energy usage between automobiles and human beings. Moreover, the image reveals horrifying figures around caloric value in some of our favorite foods, which may prompt a few of us to go for the banana over a bloomin’ onion the next time were “fueling up.”

On a side note, this graphic makes an excellent case for a principle of mapping: Selection. When crafting a map, info graphic, or image, strict adherence ought be paid to the categories and specific items that should be displayed, both in terms of their individual and relative values.

Imagine if this New York times example had shown a car’s fuel requirements against that of almost ANY other animal. The narrative and emotive value of the comparison instantly declines, in effect, scuttling the intended messaging of the artifact.

The consequences from choosing either incorrect, or inferior, information types and mediums, can be range from a substandard story to an unintentional skewing of information away from the desired communication.

Map O’ The Day #44 – West Virginia Slaw Map

Hot dogs are no light issue, and conflicts have been known to arise regarding what constitutes a ‘real’ hot dog.

The essential parts of the hot dog are not in dispute - a frankfurter sausage and a sliced bun to place it in. It’s what goes on the dog that causes all the trouble and discord. The garnishing and condiments that top up hot dogs vary greatly according to personal style and regional tradition.

This map, hailing from West Virginia Hot Dog Association’s website, displays that While the vast majority of West Virginians prefer hot dogs topped with coleslaw, it is not a standard topping at hot dog joints everywhere in West Virginia. The food culture of our state is diverse and influenced by many factors such as predominate ethnicities and a melding with cultures of surrounding states.This mapping project attempts to document this diversity.

All of the counties shaded in light green have been verified to have HDJs that include slaw as a topping on a hot dog with "everything". Light beige indicate counties where HDJs usually offer slaw, but usually by request only. In dark beige counties you can usually get slaw, but some HDJs may not offer it. Orange indicates counties where slaw is almost never available in mainstream HDJs. Finally, in those counties shaded red, slaw is unheard of. The data from several counties is unconfirmed and we welcome your input if you have specific knowledge that is in conflict with what is presented here. Please email us at

A few preferred styles elsewhere in the country are:
New York: hot dogs topped with steamed onions and a pale, deli-style mustard
Chicago: smothered in yellow mustard, dark green relish, chopped raw onion and tomato slices, sprinkled with celery salt
Kansas City: topped with sauerkraut and melted cheese

Map O' The Day #43 - Donald Duck Family Tree

In the spirit of Friday fun, here is a more lighthearted MOTD, focused around the loveable Donald Duck. One of the most popular of the Disney cartoon characters, Donald Duck made his debut in the Silly Symphony cartoon "The Wise Little Hen" on June 9, 1934. His fiery temper endeared him to audiences, and in the 1940s he surpassed Mickey Mouse in the number of cartoons reaching the theaters. Eventually, there were 128 Donald Duck cartoons, but he also appeared in a number of others with Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and Pluto. His middle name, shown in a wartime cartoon, is Fauntleroy.

This map was created by Gilles Maurice for a group of Disney researchers, Calisota Online. You can find more character family trees or check out maps of their universe and environment at, http://goofy313g.free.fr/calisota_online/

Map O' The Day #42 - User Experience, A System Simplified

This great chart by Dan Saffer that identifies and describes the relationships between various design disciplines.

Decently self explanatory!

Map O’ the Day #41 – A Year In Iraq

Think what you will of the New York Times, but the paper is without a doubt known for putting together compelling Info graphics which display data sets in a visually stimulating manner. Authored by Adriana Lins De Albuquerque & Alicia Chen, this image is no exception for the publication, as their portrayal of casualties during 2007 in all of Iraq masterfully shows the gruesome realities of war. The Times utilizes both color, figure type, and figure quantity to display the known data sets.

One should be somewhat leery when drawing insights from a map such as this, as often times authors of both info graphics and maps will choose to use scale, selection and representation in an effort to aim the viewer towards a specific conclusion or view. I’m not sure that I see a blatant statistical misrepresentation in this case, but without cross referencing the original data with the Times representation, it’s quite difficult to be sure of it’s objectivity.

In any event, this graphic is worth scanning for some undeniable trends in the reported data, such as the large amount of Iraqi police officers killed by hostile forces, namely, other Iraqis and foreign terrorists.

[I apologize for the resolution when viewing the comprehensive graphic, but zooming in provides an enhancement]

Map O' The Day #40 - The Land of Greendale

Today’s MOTD is a personal favorite – a map of the fictitious land of Greendale from the album cover art for Neil Young’s Greendale. Illustrated by James Mazzeo, who also illustrated the cover of Young’s Zuma, the map illustrates the backdrop for the rock opera album, centered on the adventures and trials of the Green family.

Just as web 2.0 has morphed the liner notes of yesterday’s record into downloadable songbooks and bonus features that accompany the digital album, the Greendale map takes interactivity to a whole new level. The album has its very own website where you can scroll over the map to enlarge certain details relevant to the songs.

It is becoming increasingly popular to make use of technology to enhance the depth of information and degree of interactivity on once static visual information maps.