Dear Gretchen

Gretchen Nash has been putting letters into a suitcase since she was a child.  She has written a book based on the 187 letters.  The book, Dear Gretchen,  not only features the letters and reflections about their senders, but more interestingly analyzes and graphs trends amongst the letters.  All of the graphs are visualized using crazy paper cut outs.  Some of the analyzed information is priceless, like animal mentions (top = cat), or name calling (top = freak).  It is a lovely little glimpse into the social life of a young girl.

New Math

New Math features equations about life, by Craig Damrauer.  The math is very enjoyable to read though.  Mainly because most of the equations are oh so true.  I like the modern art one shown above.  Another one of my favorites is a Good Meeting = (Time Saved/Time Wasted) + Snacks.  Ha.  He publishes a new one every Monday.

Reminds me of another one of my favorites: Indexed.

Synoptic

I'm always looking for new inspiration to feed my information visualization addiction.  Today I found that inspiration in Synoptic.  Synoptic was created by German design student Roland LoBlein.  It visualizes meteorological data specified by the viewer, and arranged chronologically.  The visualizations are beautiful, but what really got me was the ability to turn the graph around in 3D. It immediately gives the data more life and relevance. OK, I'm going to say it again - Damn, I thought I hated charts.  (Found through Computerlove).

Daytum

Daytum is a site that lets you collect and graph any sort of data you want.  It is currently in private beta, but I can't wait until it goes public.  Users each get their own site to display whatever type of data they are tracking.  The current examples are pleasantly mundane:  The cat's I've seen; The websites I visited this week; The amount of times I used technology this week; Meals I've made for dinner.  The graphic design of the data is fresh and simple.  Just one more example of why I'm changing my opinions about charts and graphs.

History of Crayola Crayons

Graphic Designer, Alison Haigh, has created this smile-worthy chart depicting the history of Crayola crayon colours.  It shows how the original colours were added to over time.  The chart has no timeline but you can almost fill in the gaps based on the new colour additions or the colour cuts.  Fantastic representation of some colour history.

Mycrocosm

Mycrocosm is a web app that allows you to chart whatever useless information you feel like.  I know, it sounds terrible but it's great.  It's a lovely view into the daily lives of others.  There is something about mundane information that just lends itself to charts.