The Project
For my final project, I wanted to create a project that raises awareness about environmental issues that are otherwise overlooked. My goal with this project was to portray the data in a creative way that does not intimidate people from learning more about these issues.
I chose to use a JSON file containing data about indoor environmental complaints to 311 found on NYC open data. Inspired by Max Bill’s Fifteen Variations on a Single Theme v. 9, I displayed different environmental complaints for each Borough as bubbles on multiple circles. I also looked into the science of colors when choosing a color scheme to make sure that the data looks appealing. Users can interact with the project using their voices. When they say a name of a borough in New York City (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island) its respective data is displayed on the screen.
The sketch goes through the first thousand complaints and adds a small color coordinated bubble on the circle outlines. It also displays the number of each complaint type in the borough being displayed, as well as the total number of complaints out of the first thousand.
Process Sketch Images
Embedded Sketch
Sketch Link: https://editor.p5js.org/ym1820/sketches/nOu-LQknH
Bibliography:
Aho, T., Niittyvirta, P. (2020). “Coastline Paradox”. Experiments with Google. https://experiments.withgoogle.com/coastline-paradox
Bill, M., (1935-38). “quinze variations sur un même thème”. Dalmier Art Collection. https://art.daimler.com/en/artwork/quinze-variations-sur-un-meme-theme-15-variations-on-one-theme-max-bill-1935-38-2/
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. (2021). DOHMH Indoor Environmental Complaints [Data set]. NYC Open Data. https://data.cityofnewyork.us/Health/DOHMH-Indoor-Environmental-Complaints/9jgj-bmct
Google. (2019). “Teachable Machine.” Teachable Machine. https://teachablemachine.withgoogle.com.
Lupi, G., & Posavec, S. (2016). Dear Data. Princeton Architectural Press. http://www.dear-data.com/theproject
Shiffman, Daniel. (2019). “Teachable Machine 3: Sound Classification,” The Coding Train. https://editor.p5js.org/codingtrain/sketches/e3nrNMG7A
Thomaskjellberg. (2010, September 8). Fifteen variations on a single theme. Rules Based Design. Retrieved December 10, 2021, from https://rulesbased.wordpress.com/2010/09/08/fifteen-variations-on-a-single-theme/