A visualization redesign of the avocado toast index
This is a redesign of the data visualizations in a BBC article that measured housing costs around the world in avocado toast.
The objective of this project was to critically evaluate and revisualize an existing data visualization. While artistically designed, the original visualizations do not allow for easy data comparison or observation of trends. Though simple, a pair of bar charts would most easily allow readers to interpret the data.
Made with: R, ggplot2
Source: BBC
Less is more! Pretty design doesn't guarantee effective data visualization.
In New York City and San Francisco, it would respectively take 33 and 44 years of skipping a daily slice of avocado toast to afford a 20% deposit on a home. Prior generations did not face an explosive increase in housing cost paired with the stagnant, sluggish growth of wages. It's completely unfounded to label an entire generation of Millenials as "lazy" for their inability to afford housing in this economy of extraordinary wealth inequality.
The original BBC article was a tongue-in-cheek response to Australian businessman Tim Gurner's comment, "When I was trying to buy my first home, I wasn't buying smashed avocado for $19 and four coffees at $4 each." As reported by 9NEWS, Mr. Gurner borrowed $34,000 from his grandfather to jumpstart his career. Most people aren't privy to such loans, much less able to comfortably meet their basic societal needs.
The moral of the story?
