Carl V. Lewis

In this tutorial, we’ll create an interactive, chloropleth map of census data, complete with hover tooltips and an HTML legend. We’ll use QGis and Google spreadsheets to prepare the data, Tilemill to style the map tiles and MapBox for hassle-free hosting. You’ll need to be running Mac OS X to follow along.

Although geared primarily toward the production of static graphics for print publications, Dona M. Wong’s The Wall Street Journal Guide to Information Graphics (2010) provides a wealth of salient and time-honored tips and guidelines that any student of data visualization would be well-advised to follow. At the heart of Wong’s book is the notion that data integrity [...]

In keeping with my recent spate of mapping nerdiness, I decided to take an interactive map I produced last month displaying statewide annual population changes a step further by adding mouseover/hover capabilities. Here’s the hover-y, nicely-colored chloropleth map I came up with. But before I get into the nitty-gritty of how I created the map [...]

With all this talk lately of the new era of responsive design, I realized today that I’ve yet to create anything that’s actually responsive. Given that I’ve only pondered using it in the implementation of complex, database-driven news sites, the task of tweaking every level of CSS to fit perfectly into a responsive grid system [...]

I’ve been tinkering around with some new mapping tools lately, and figured I’d put them to good use by displaying the 2011-2012 population estimates released last week by the U.S. Census Bureau. The inherently geographical nature of the census makes it a data set just begging to be mapped. Rather than the de facto Google [...]

Others may hate, but I’m a big fan of using bubbles to display data. When implemented correctly (i.e. scaled in terms of area instead of diameter), bubbles can be an aesthetically appealing and concise way to represent the value of data points in an inherently visual format. Bubbles are even more useful when they include [...]

A quick refresher from my data visualization professor here at Columbia a couple of weeks ago reminded me why I was forced to spend all those grueling hours calculating standard deviation back in high school. See, when you’re using a data set to tell a story, the first step is to understand what that data [...]

With the Pulitzer Price announcements coming up later this afternoon, you’d think I’d be writing about whose up for the “Best Deadline Reporting” or “Best Public Service Journalism” prizes. But instead I want to talk about a different media award doled out during the past week: BostonGlobe.com’s designation as the “world’s best designed website” by [...]

A close look at the numbers shows that, assuming the company’s ad rates and inventory held steady, BusinessInsider.com nearly doubled its annual revenue in 2011 to about $8.5 million.