My Data Art project centers around demonstrating the recent gentrification of Nashville, TN with the rise in housing prices with the city’s growth. Like many cities in the south, Nashville has a decently sized socio-economic gap in affluence which follows racial demographics due to a long-standing history of racism and generational wealth. This interactive piece better demonstrates the change by animating each neighborhood’s sphere from the averaged percentage of Black citizens for each neighborhood according to five-year estimates from 2007-2011, to the five-year estimates from 2012-2016. Certain neighborhoods closer to the city center or affluent areas such as East Nashville are labeled with blue colored spheres which are decreasing in size, while less affluent areas with longer commute times are labeled with orange colored spheres, which are increasing in size.
There are multiple interactive element to this piece. It includes a Jitter object allowing one to start and stop an animation showing the change over time. It also includes a mouse-dependent textbox informing the user of the name of the neighborhood corresponding to each sphere. The spheres are also located around each other geographically in relation to their actual location in Nashville.
I have an opinion about the aesthetic of your piece. Have you considered making the circles change color when they shrink/expand to display the change in size?
I have an opinion about the colors. You mentioned you chose them randomly within a color palette you liked, and that blue is shrinking while orange is growing. While I do like the colors you chose, I find it odd that some choices have meaning while others don’t.
It’s logical and intuitive that colors correspond to growth, but somewhat redundant since size also represents growth. Given more time I wonder if you could have represented a different variable as well.
I have an opinion about colors: I think it could add to the passage of time if the color of the background also slightly dimmed with the passage of time.
I first noticed the informative element of the text indicating which neighborhood the user is hovering over — I think it’s really cool and helpful without being a distraction to the art. 🙂
I found it really unique how you placed the shapes on a colored background plane. I also find it interesting how there is one 3d object while the rest are 2d.
I have an opinion, maybe having the hues of each color (blue and red) represent the amount of change or difference could be interesting
If I may say an opinion, the colors of this piece initially made me feel happy with the bright tones, but after reading the data I felt a bit confused, I suggest that putting in some sadder colors for the background would make this piece give a more impact sadder tone.
Would it be helpful to make the circles the outlines of the corresponding area as a way to convey location?