Visual journalists at the Washington Post have compiled a series of photos, videos, and graphics that show the harrowing circumstances facing Ukraine as Russia invades the country. Here, the Post shows how 874,000 Ukranians that have fled the country, and which countries they have sought refuge in.

In one graphic, the team uses satellite imagery to show a four-mile road backed up with Ukranian citizens leaving the country via car. The image requires the user to scroll for a bit (around three vertical screens), showcasing the magnitude of the exodus at hand. The article also includes videos and photos of refugees to ensure important human stories are not concealed by these large numbers.

The New York Times has put together a simple yet revealing roundup of company vaccination policies across the United States. Journalists at NYT surveyed 500 top corporations about their vaccination policies, and revealed their answers in a simple grid. Each company that responded (129 out of 500) is given a square with their company logo inside; as the user scrolls, squares move around based on their vaccination policy. The NYT highlights companies that require vaccinations, defer to local and state ordinances, and those that do not require vaccinations at all.

This piece could be referenced as an example of bringing interactive storytelling to survey data; the survey (or at least, the content that was presented from the survey) is incredibly simple. Rather than opt for a similarly simple presentation (such as a table), the NYT uses scroll-based interaction to tell a story, not just show the data. (Although, it might be nice to have a table for reference at the bottom of the article.)

This piece was a fun one! (Well, minus the subject material.) Rachael Dottle and Jackie Gu have composed a beautiful, revealing, and sobering piece on the environmental impact of modern fashion. They show, through a series of charts, interactives, and illustrations, how much our clothing contributes to waste, and the recent trends accelerating this impending crisis.

While you scroll, your page is quite literally overtaken by littered clothing (with a tooltip that reads, “Since you opened this page, [number] pieces of clothing have been thrown away or destroyed.”). It’s this kind of addition that takes the piece to the next level, as it reminds the reader of exactly the growing, dangerous mess that we’re in.

We’ve sent this video to pretty much everyone in our immediate circles. This video is a masterclass in visual storytelling, from the way that charts are presented, to the integration of other forms of media, to the thorough investigation at hand.

Joss Fong takes us on a journey throughout the pandemic and shows, through troves of survey data, when and how American conservatives turned against the COVID-19 vaccine, and how this trend might endure past the current pandemic. Data is visualized and then physicalized (a word we just made up) with charts that are drawn in real time, allowing for some of the best storytelling we’ve seen this year.

One simple map showcases how, and how quickly, the Ukraine crisis has evolved. Comparing air traffic from February 23rd to February 24th, the Economist shows that air traffic has totally ceased; representing the fact that flights have been diverted amidst the war. It is a tragic illustration of how life for Ukrainians has been fundamentally altered in the course of one day.