Information Graphics, Graphic Design

Feel the Bern?

Feel the Bern?

Leading up to the 2016 Presidential primaries, my infographics class challenged us to choose a presidential candidate as a subject for our final project. In Fall of 2015, U.S. Senator (I-VT) Bernie Sanders was making quite a splash in the media, but I didn't actually know anything about him. I chose Bernie as my subject, and focused on showing his history in politics as well as the basics of his platform.

Overview

Infographic showing Bernie's favorite statistic, that the top .1% have the same wealth as the bottom 90%.
Line chart showing Bernie's poll ranking grow from 10% in May 2015 to 30% in November.
With two true candidates in the race for the Democratic nomination, I thought it was important to show how Bernie had been polling from the time he had announced his candidacy through the time of this project.

Timeline

I was most interested in researching Bernie because he had spent so much time in public service. I wanted to make sure this infographic could quickly convey the amount of time he had served in office, notable legislation he had written, and his voting record for topics of key interest leading up to the primaries.

Timeline from 1981 to 2015, showing Bernie's positions as Mayor, Congressman, and Senator over the decades.
The core of this timeline shows what offices Bernie has held over time, with his voting record on top of the timeline and legislation below.
Detail image showing iconography for Bernie's votes against the Iraq War, the PATRIOT Act, and the Keystone Pipeline.
I created icons to represent each of the major "no" votes while in D.C. and used color-coding to denote actions made in the House of Representatives and in Congress.

Research

  • Bernie 2016. BernieSanders.com. Web. 24 Nov 2015.
  • FeelTheBern. FeelTheBern.org. "Who is Bernie Sanders?" Web. 25 Nov 2015.
  • RealClearPolitics. RealClearPolitics.com. "All 2016 Democratic Presidential Nomination Polling Data." Web. 29 Nov 2015.
  • U.S. Senate. Sanders.Senate.gov. Web. 23 Nov 2015.
  • Veterans for Bernie Sanders 2016. VetsForBernie.org. Web. 5 Dec 2015.

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