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| The greatest roller coasters in the world! |
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| Coaster-specific info |
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| Number of coaster cars = number of drops |
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| Movable, cursor-activated speed and height ruler |
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| Roller coaster's location in the world |
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| Point-of-view video footage of each roller coaster |
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| Coaster info preview on hover |
In the process of creating this work, I strived
to maintain three principles; the first
being simplicity. In choosing the world's
top roller coasters for my data set, I had access to a wide variety statistics
for a rather small number of elements (11). In this way, I was able to keep
charts relatively small and leave room for other types of information. Accordingly,
I stuck with simple shapes for the visuals, grouping them together to form clouds
or coaster cars. Because the layout elements varied greatly in information type,
I used contrasting colors to stress their individuality and to set them apart
from one another.
The second
principle I pursued to was intuitiveness.
The infographic is laid out in such a way that when you select a roller coaster
from the graph, an animation depicting a roller coaster drop would appear,
directing you to the coaster's location on a map of the world. Notice that as
you select higher roller coasters, the drop visualization heightens accordingly.
Leaving out the graph labels was a
conscious choice as well. This was done not only to prevent the viewer from
being overwhelmed by numbers, but to give them an intuitive tool with which
they can estimate and compare coaster heights and speeds on their own, should
they choose to.
The third
quality I hoped to maintain was essence.
I wanted to display not just one facet of roller coaster-ness, such as speed, but
to include things like coaster height, number of drops, location in the world,
park of residence, date of opening.
Also, what better way to demonstrate the
essence of roller coasters than to show POV footage for every one of them?
Citations:
“Record Holders,”
Roller Coaster DataBase, accessed January 21, 2013, http://rcdb.com/rhr.htm.
“Kingda Ka Front
Seat on-ride POV Six Flags Great Adventure” [May 9, 2010]. Video clip. Accessed
Feb 16, 2013. YouTube. www.YouTube.com, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTNcnJS-a2M.
“Official Top
Thrill Dragster POV in HD” [November 18, 2009]. Video clip. Accessed Feb 16, 2013.
YouTube. www.YouTube.com, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbN3NU4hIZg.
“Superman: Escape
From Krypton Front Seat (HD POV) Backwards Six Flags Magic Mountain” [March 21,
2011]. Video clip. Accessed Feb 16, 2013. YouTube. www.YouTube.com, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WQXxZmLMFQ.
“The Tower of
Terror II - POV - Dreamworld Rides” [December 21, 2010]. Video clip. Accessed Feb
16, 2013. YouTube. www.YouTube.com, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsDnBIn1ouk.
“Steel Dragon 2000
onride 9 (front row)” [November 15, 2007]. Video clip. Accessed Feb 16, 2013.
YouTube. www.YouTube.com, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tIkUFb3KAI.
“NEW! Official
Millennium Force POV” [October 28, 2011]. Video clip. Accessed Feb 16, 2013.
YouTube. www.YouTube.com, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To3jujFzwHg.
“Leviathan Front
Seat on-ride HD POV Canada's Wonderland” [May 15, 2012]. Video clip. Accessed Feb
16, 2013. YouTube. www.YouTube.com, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0ASWKwQwzE.
“Intimidator 305
Front Seat on-ride POV Kings Dominion” [April 12, 2010]. Video clip. Accessed Feb
16, 2013. YouTube. www.YouTube.com, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEyY_lO-xwA.
“Six Flags Magic
Mountain Goliath POV” [March 24, 2011]. Video clip. Accessed Feb 16, 2013.
YouTube. www.YouTube.com, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOqeOsjeFX4.
“FORMULA ROSSA -
Onride - Ferrari World” [November 6, 2010]. Video clip. Accessed Feb 16, 2013.
YouTube. www.YouTube.com, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INn1dK_l0uc.
“TV Static effect”
[September 10, 2011]. Video clip. Accessed Feb 16, 2013. YouTube. www.YouTube.com,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TL1I5nVNew.
