Information

I wanted to do something related to my Senior Thesis for this project and I decided to focus on the Hays Code. The reason why I picked this is because it is kind of confusing to understand because of all the changes and because Hollywood ignored it for a lengthy period of time. The problem with visualizing such a complicated topic is well... visualizing the layout. In a way I wish I had put more thought into this one because I am not completely happy with the result.

The infograph that I created gives statistics on what types of camps are available as well as the activities that they provide. I attempted to make a visual representation of the information by using "tents" to represent camps and colored dots to represent the activities that they might provide. There are two very important things to consider. Firstly, I am terrible at drawing, especially on the computer. Secondly, I am often hopeless at creating charts. I would consider using Prezi a way to manage my computer ineptitude and combine my love of camp and PowerPoint.

The image I have created displays the rapid increase of obesity in the state of Virginia. In the beginning I was not sure how to display the data I collected until I was looking at the shape of the state. At first I wanted the dates and the years to be inside the state but realized it was too confusing and clustered. Next I tried to put all of the information inside the state and only keep the percentages on the outside and not include the dates but the dates were needed to really grasp the significant increase.

In light of current events, the topic of radiation and its consequences is in the media spotlight. There is a plethora of information available on the radiation levels we are likely to encounter on a regular basis, as well as sources of radiation that are unlikely to affect the greater population. This data can become a source of fear-mongering among hypochondriacs and plebeians alike, which is why I created this infographic to put this esoteric radiation data into an easily digestible format and hopefully put radiation into perspective.

I started off wanting to make a fun self-diagnosis map, but then I reread the instructions and realized I had to use numerical data. So I have two thyroid infographics for you.

The goal of this infographic was to convey some of the information I've uncovered about Belgium in the course of my research. I was actually really pleased with the result, even though I had to remove much of the information I wanted to add for the sake of space and time. At first I had a hard time figuring out what to use for this project, since I am more familiar with Illustrator than some other vector editors, but I wasn't about to shell out major money for it or spend hours in one of the labs on campus.

This project is a visual presentation of data that supports allowing full joint adoption by same-gender couples in more U.S. states. This type of adoption is currently only allowed in 12 states, and it is my belief that it should be allowed in more states in order to help reduce the number of kids waiting to be adopted. Unfortunately, a majority of states do not allow same-gender couples to participate in full joint adoption, either through laws forbidding it or by leaving individual cases up to a judge.

About a month ago I read an article in The New York Times that discussed how stress levels of college students have reach record high amounts. I was interested in conveying this information because of its relevance to the Mary Washington community. Often students can be heard complaining about 3 tests in one week, or important assignments they are worried about getting an A on. Despite preparation efforts that students put in to their work, sometimes it is not enough because there is simply too much to do.

For this project I did an information image about Kemba Walker the point guard for the Connecticut Huskies. This info image describes why I feel he is the best player in college basketball, and I am trying to convince you of the same. I wanted to keep this image simple and clear so you the reader could understand the information provided the quickest and easiest way. With just the most important bullet points provided to the reader it provides clarity and simplicity. I could not decide if I wanted to have Kemba in the background or just as a side image.

Since the financial and real estate bubble burst in late 2008 the amount of state debt has risen considerably. As a result citizens across the country are feeling the pinch as states tighten their budget, thereby cutting back on social services and improvements to infrastructure. What I was interested in seeing was if there was a correlation between states with higher debt and the political parties that run them. I chose to display this through an area cartogram.