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Dataviz Approach and Data Storytelling

This dataset was really simple with only one metric to look at, but interesting nonetheless. The centerpiece of this viz is my hex map, using hexagons that are made to look like toy building blocks. This is a simple shape chart, with custom shapes to show the state abbreviation as the letters on the blocks. The blocks are colored based on a calculation driven off the median number of manufacturers for the chosen year for all states. When multiple years are included, the median is based off the average number of manufacturers during the time period.

I'm a huge fan of viz interactivity, so I included a bar chart at the top showing the number of manufacturers by year. Clicking on any bar filters the hex map to the selected year. This viz is colored by the change in the number of manufacturers versus the prior year, which is detailed in the tooltip. Finally, the hex map has a viz in tooltip that shows the change in manufacturers for the state that the user is hovering over.

Simple dataset with a pretty simple viz. Overall, I'm really happy with this one. We'd still love to see what you can do with this dataset! Download the data and see what you can do. Create your viz and post your work to Tableau Public and Twitter with the hashtag #ThrowbackDataThursday, tagging @TThrowbackThurs. We'd really love to see what you can come up with!

Data Source

This week's dataset comes from U.S. Census Bureau. Please be sure to cite the source on your viz.