So the Bricks to Blocks map was one of the best maps i’ve seen. It took a simple object – a lego- and used its quantity and color to visually represent the height of New York City Blocks. It’s a map that is as equally pleasing as it is functional and visually legible, a really tricky balance. Coincidentally it combines my favorite things, data vis and legos! One thing about this map is that it is very free from interpretation so there is very little, if any, bias or misrepresentation in the map, so you can take what you see as truths.
One potential problem with this map is that the use of color appears to be arbitrary and not representative of anything in particular. Many people might want to read these colors as a gradient with a certain end of the color spectrum corresponding to a lower height and the other end of the spectrum corresponding with a higher height. This could easily influence how the user reads the map. Likewise, color and hue and value affect how we perceive depth, and since height is the very specific thing we are looking at in the map , an error in depth perception would not be good.
All in all knowing that the only element he is using to convey the data is the lego brick height, there should be no misinterpretation, therfore making this a very good map.
Other Maps I May Use As Reference:
http://darkhorseanalytics.com/blog/breathing-city/
http://labratrevenge.com/pdx/#11/45.4584/-122.6060
http://blog.cartodb.com/superbowl-forty-nine/
http://bigthink.com/strange-maps/bricks-to-blocks-a-lego-new-york
http://bigthink.com/strange-maps/how-to-fingerprint-a-city