The Bottom Line

Interactive Data Visualizations & Illustrations

The Department of Defense budget is one of the largest line items in the federal budget. I worked with researchers at the Center for a New American Security to create a series of interactive charts to visualize the individual components of the defense budget by branch of military. Because I don’t regularly create online interactives, it was really fun to think through the various active states and user experience. Along with the data visualizations, we created a series of iconographic military seals and emblems representing the parties involved, from the Pentagon to Capitol Hill to the White House. We also created an interactive timeline that shows the length of time from a budget submission to appropriation, and markers for any shutdowns or continuing resolutions. Since these research products are all digital, we also created postcards as a leave behind and companion product.

CREDITS

My role: design and creative direction
Deverloper: David Cook
Researchers: Susanna Blume and Lauren Fish