1. Before we knew the budget. Our initial ideas involved a lot of interactive data exploration. From maps to exploding bubble charts, the possibilities were exciting but also a bit overwhelming, particularly for a first foray in digital journalism.
2. A clearer understanding. Once all of the story, format, and data details had been decided, we experimented with many different approaches for visualizing part 2. I actually prefer this visual structure, but the text labels were illegible on a small screen.
3. Formatting and details. We honed in on a more vertical structure for better mobile viewing, but struggled to get the spacing right at first. Here's a timelapse of the process of layering artistic elements on top of a Tableau export.
4. Editing elements. A big piece of the story that didn't make the cut was a drill down to the top 10 jobs identified by the BLS. It would have been awesome to include this but we didn't have the space (or time!) to make it work. Sigh.
5. Making tweaks. Here is another timelapse video of the final tweaks we made to make the piece more visually appealing and legible. Side note- google translate is great, but not all that great. Additional side note- don't forget accent marks when you make a font of your own handwriting.
6. The final. Where are the most jobs today, and where can you earn the most money? I'm proud of how well this chart reads on a phone, but have a lot of ideas for ways to improve it in future versions if we get the chance.