Data Sketchbook
Data Visualization | Research | illustration | MOTION Media
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the world went on lockdown, I started to feel a little anxious and out of sorts. Being stuck in the house all day meant looking at the same spaces over and over again, and many at-home activities that I previously enjoyed became boring. As a person who thrives from being outside, this new change in events made me uneasy. I had to find a way to be more connected to the outside. Everyday I would wait in anticipation for that one hour I could spend outside. I’d buckle up my dog’s harness, and we would begin our walk around Savannah, exploring a new route or space every day, as allowed by County laws. It was not long before our walks became the inspiration for my daily sketchbook, providing data of my own life.
Data included the routes I walked everyday, emotions I felt during each walk and, the people and animals I encountered along the way. Initially the project was about mapping only routes, as a way of seeing new things in Savannah, but over time I started noticing the little things that made those walks enjoyable, and started adding those in. Over the course of a month, I had been on 100 walks, and over 80 miles around the city. The shortest walk being 0.1 miles around the block to the longer ones in the ‘outdoors’ at 6.7 miles.
This sketchbook inspired two other projects, a video telling the story, and Collecting Moments, which both informed and sparked interest in what became my thesis.
