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The all-purpose guide to epic moviesAfter reading all of the Harry Potter books in the summer of 2007, I wanted to make a chart comparing the series to other movies that used similar themes: the reluctant hero, the wise mentor, the evil antagonist and so forth. After pitching it to Boston Globe AME for Design Dan Zedek, I got paired with Steve Heuser in the Ideas section. Using the archetypes described in Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero With a Thousand Faces,” the chart compares characters from the Harry Potter series, “Star Wars,” “The Matrix,” “Lord Of The Rings” and… “Finding Nemo.” |
Red Sox ages through the yearsWhen I first got to The Boston Globe, I talked with Daigo Fujiwara about potential Red Sox graphics I could do. In the course of our discussion, I realized that pitcher Tim Wakefield was on his way to becoming the oldest Red Sox player in the history of the team. I created a spreadsheet with the ages of the oldest and youngest players, as well as the team average. I then turned that spreadsheet into a CSV file to make an XML file. I first created an interactive Flash graphic, but then created a print version as well. On Tuesday, May 10, 2011, Tim Wakefield became the oldest active player in Red Sox history, including the time when the team was called the Boston Americans. He was 44 years, 281 days old, a day older than Deacon McGuire was when he played final game for the team in 1908. This was a stand-alone graphic, and I was the sole reporter. |
How Kryptonite Bike Revolution WorksThe bike lock company Kryptonite unveiled a kit featuring stickers that bicycle owners could affix to their bike and register using bar code reader apps on their smartphones. When asked to make a graphic explaining how the process works, I thought of one of the most famous stolen bikes ever: Pee-Wee's bike from "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure." So, if the bike in the graphic looks familiar, it's because it is. |
Origami's mathematical principlesA reporter was working on a story about an origami club at MIT, and my boss asked if I wanted to do a graphic showing the math of origami. I said yes, having been a huge math geek while in school. I talked with the president of the MIT group and figured out what would be the best way to explain that origami is more than just folding paper cranes. We decided it would be best to show the Huzita-Justin axioms, the seven principles describing the geometric constructions possible in paper-folding. |
Attempts to fight obesityBoston Globe reporter Carolyn Johnson needed a graphic explaining some products aimed at helping patients control their weight. I sifted through her source materials and worked with her to write text that would in simple terms explain these products without misrepresenting them. I first created the print version, and then created an interactive Flash graphic. The page designer integrated the graphic into the page. |
Hospital alarm fatigueI was asked to make a graphic to accompany Boston Globe reporter Liz Kowalczyk's story explaining alarm fatigue at local hospitals. Unheard and ignored alarms and other patient monitor problems were linked to more than 200 deaths nationwide between 2005 and mid-2010, though the number of deaths could be much higher. I was asked to show a generic hospital room and identify the potential alarms that could affect a patient. I first created an interactive Flash graphic, but then created a print version as well. Liz had recorded sounds of the alarms, which I edited in Audacity and used for the Flash graphic. |
Understanding shinglesHealth and science reporter Kay Lazar wrote a piece explaining shingles, a painful and sometimes debilitating infection and rash triggered by the same virus that causes chickenpox. I was assigned the task of creating an infographic explaining what this disease does, how it progresses and whom it affects. I worked with Kay and a doctor with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to break the disease down into bullet-size descriptions without dumbing down the information or minimizing its effects. The resulting graphic included pictures showing some of the harsh (and gross) possibilities from getting shingles. Javier Zarracina helped by rendering a 3D body, which I used as a base to show where shingles most commonly appears. I turned this into an interactive graphic using Javascript. WARNING:The print version contains graphic images, but the interactive version allows you to skip past those images if you don't want to see them. |
The State of Black BostonA 49-page report, “The State of Black Boston," analyzed census data to provide a demographic snapshot of Boston’s black community. Globe reporter Akilah Johnson picked the report's most salient findings and I set to work on demonstrating those in infographic form. I had a lot of variables, so it was important to use a lot of graphic types: bar charts, icons, etc. |
Finding MarisolBoston Globe writer Billy Baker wrote a story about a couple who tried to use social media in the search process for their dog. On Nov. 2, Andrew and Anindita Sempere’s dog, Marisol, fled into the Middlesex Fells Reservation after being attacked by another dog. Traditional approaches were only scaring the dog, so the Semperes have tried a new approach: “comfort stations" using a small amount of food and the Semperes’ scent to lure her. I worked with Javier Zarracina on the style of this graphic, which I translated into an interactive graphic using Javascript. |
Kids surveyMiddle school students from three counties and 20 schools were surveyed about life at school and at home. To represent the data in graphics, I wanted to go beyond the traditional bar charts and pie charts. After looking at a bunch of graphics sites to get inspiration, I went through each question and assigned a different chart type. The overall package was designed by Florida Times-Union graphics editor Steve Nelson. |
Sizing Up DowntownA team of Florida Times-Union metro reporters wrote a series of stories on downtown Jacksonville, and its debatable future. These reporters compiled several statistics in the hopes of providing a snapshot of life downtown. I turned the information into several small graphics, which I then turned into a full-page graphic. Once I had finished the print graphic, I made a Flash graphic for the website. |
Party tug-of-warI had the idea of comparing the parties in control of various political offices from the local level to the national level. Obama's inauguration provided a great time peg, so I pitched the idea to the Insight editor, then researched and compiled this full-page chart that ran the Sunday before the inauguration. This timeline-chart hybrid shows which party was in control of the presidency, U.S. Senate and House, Florida Governorship, Senate and House, and the Jacksonville mayor's office and city council from 1960 to 2009. Additionally, I included a timeline of local, state and national news events to give a context for the 49 years shown. In 2010, I was awarded a Morris Journalism Excellence Award for this piece. |
How long did it take?A few pundits remarked that Barack Obama's historic election as the first black president was in part a result of a changing tide that had begun with the earlier elections of black men and women to civic and state political positions. That got me thinking, "If it took 220 years to elect a black president, how long did it take for black men and women to get to other positions?" I pitched this package to an editor, who was eagerly on board to use this graphic for the final Sunday of Black History Month. I researched every aspect of the graphic, and then double- and triple-checked every name, date, figure and political position using multiple sources. |
The First Coast and IraqIn the summer of 2009, The Florida Times-Union ran an extensive package examining the number of deaths and depoyments from south Georgia and north Florida since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. We plotted the deaths in Iraq and Kuwait, color-coding them to indicate the deceased's branch in the military. Additionally, we showed the progression of deaths and deployments along a timeline of events. To further tie the graphic to the local readers, I showed a size comparison of Florida and Geogria to Iraq. I had seen this done in other papers and thought it would show how far away (or how close) these soldiers were stationed from each other. |
Cannonball how-toWhen I learned that the Times-Union's features section was sending an intern to a local university's swim team to get advice on how to make a big splash in the pool, we knew we wanted to show this as a graphic. We decided to show the cannonball and the can opener, dissecting each step from the board to the water. I had our intern take pictures of me in the various positions to use as a reference when drawing the steps. |
Escape From DeathBecause Indiana Jones spends most of his movies in situations that could get him killed, Times-Union AME for Visuals Denise M. Reagan and I decided to preview the fourth film by charting Jones' brushes with death. After watching the previous films with her, I assigned a 0-3 rating for each minute, with 3 being “he should be dead.” I plugged that spreadsheet into Illustrator and then illustrated each movie with a cartoon-y reference to the story's action. To include the fourth movie in the chart, we attended a press screening of the fourth movie to record notes. After the movie, we shared notes and then I went to the office to finish the chart. |
The road to 10,000 yardsIn the fall of 2007, Jaguars running back Fred Taylor was about to join an elite group of NFL players who have rushed for 10,000 yards or more. I wanted to put it in perspective for casual fans. We could have simply converted it to miles, but showing it to readers in the context of their city had greater impact. I made it lighter and more whimsical to indicate this wasn't a traditional map. |
Fred Taylor's 10,032When Fred Taylor finally rushed 10,000 yards, we wanted a breakdown of his career ready. In the preseason, we pulled statistics about his career. We decided I would do a full-page, season-by-season, game-by-game chart of every yard he’d rushed in his career, color-coding the games in which he rushed 100 yards or more. |
5 Medical Technologies You Didn't Know the First Coast HadOur health reporter wanted to point out medical technologies that made the region a leader in the Southeast. Editors and I felt we could work with him to show this in an alternative story format. I visited most of the facilities he mentioned, and then helped the reporter rewrite the text in bullet form. In 2007, this page won an award in the Society of News Design Best of Newspaper Design Creative Competition. |
Anatomy of a traffic ticketA reporter researched the organizations and funds that receive money from traffic tickets. She gave me the breakdown, which I then turned into print and Flash graphics. Readers responded enthusiastically (and angrily) to this explanation of where their money goes from each ticket. |
Realistic or Hollywood?Right before the release of "The Guardian," a Kevin Costner film about Coast Guard swimmers, Times-Union reporter Matt Soergel took local Navy swimmers to the film’s press screening to get their reactions. I pitched a chart gauging their opinions on the movie’s accuracy. During the screening, I wrote down every minute marker for every scene. I worked with the swimmers to accurately reflect their opinions, and then wrote the text so as to not spoil the movie for readers. |
Scleral lensesJacksonville doctor Brian Armitage has been using scleral lenses to treat patients for whom traditional contact lenses are too painful. I wanted the graphic not only to show how these lenses worked, but also how they compared in size to traditional lenses. At the largest sizes, these scleral lenses could be the size of a quarter. I'll repeat that: there's something the size of a quarter that could go over your eye. To get that point across, I showed a size comparison of a penny, a quarter, a traditional lens and a scleral lens. |
Superintendent's travelA year and a half into the job, Duval County School Superintendent Joseph Wise had taken off 71 working days for out-of-town business trips, some of which had been paid for by the school district. We plotted these on a chart so that the reader could look at them in context and make his or her own opinion on whether he had been away too often. By identifying the purpose of the trips and color-coding who paid for the trip, we provided a layered look at his time away during a period when those trips were being called into question. |
Billy Donovan's wins and lossesThe University of Florida Gators won the Final Four in 2006 and again the next year in 2007. In the fall of 2007, when their repeat looked likely, the sports department ran a profile on coach Billy Donovan. We wanted to show his record with the team in a way that would be a quick read and also more appealing than traditional bar charts. This chart of basketballs as wins and losses works well because it doesn't require a key to tell you how to read it. Anyone looking at it will understand it immediately before reading a word. |
Meeting attendanceJacksonville Mayor John Peyton had asked about 140 community leaders to serve on his anti-crime initiative, Jacksonville Journey. The Times-Union reviewed the meetings for the Steering Committee and the seven subcommittees, noting how often each member attended the meeting. The challenge was to show all the committees and their schedules on one page in a way that was readable and worthwhile. I feel the final product does a good job of allowing the reader to quickly glance at the attendance rates and gives the reader the chance to delve deeper if he or she chooses. |
The price of a gallon of gasI have long kept a notebook of graphics ideas that I use to log ideas as I come up with them. In the spring of 2006, when gas prices were rising yet again, I wondered how the price of gas per gallon compared to other liquids that we frequently buy. I particularly wanted to compare the price of gas to the liquids we don't think of in gallons: beer, coffee, orange juice, soda, etc. I took the notebook to my bosses, pitched the idea, researched the costs and then set to work. This ran the day after Memorial Day, just in time for the beginning of summer travel season. This was a stand-alone graphic that didn't have (or need) a narrative with it. I'm a math geek, so I enjoyed crunching the numbers for this graphic. |
Family treeIn August 2009, a family in southeastern Georgia was found beaten in their mobile home. Seven of them were dead already and two were clinging to life; one of those two died a few days later. The person who found them and called the police was the son of one of the victims and the cousin to some of the victims. Without a visual explanation, the connections among the victims was confusing and overwhelming. I plotted their relationships and tried to include as many layers of information as possible. |
The Mechanics of MovingIn the summer of 2007, I helped one of our editors move his family to a new house near the beach. I noticed that when helping carry large items such as tables and couches that I was designated as the person who had to walk backwards. I mused aloud that there surely was an ettiquette that dictated moving protocol. What started as a joke ended up as a scribble in my graphics notebook and in turn became a full-page graphic a month later. I contacted a few moving companies to get their takes on the mechanics and manners necessary for a sucessful move, then wrote all the text myself. It came out a few weeks before school started for the fall, timed perfectly with the droves of college students who would be moving into the dorms. |
