The Client Goal

The Solutions Project is a California-based nonprofit focused on helping America transition to 100% clean, renewable energy by 2050. To ensure this goal was achievable, the organization commissioned a study from Stanford University to identify the potential U.S. landscape in 2050. The results of the study paint a picture of each state with unique impact data including state-wide energy mix, economic change, climate change, and much more.

With this breadth of data, The Solutions Project reached out to us with a very unique ask: they needed 50 infographics (one for each state) that would be easily shared both on- and offline, spark conversation among citizens and government officials alike, and that could be updated as data changed. Most importantly, they needed this all on a nonprofit budget in less than 4 weeks.

The Solution

Because of the combination of budget and timeline, we quickly determined that an interactive design would provide the best possible result. We began by designing 1 state infographic to finalize a style and template for the remaining 49 states. We chose bright, natural colors to showcase the future ahead and dark tones to contrast present-day statistics. Once the design was finalized, we utilized HTML5 to recreate it in code.

The next step was to generate the remaining 49 infographics in a way that our client could easily update the data whenever necessary. To do this, we tied a simple Excel spreadsheet to the code using jQuery. The spreadsheet acts as the database, which allows the code to quickly generate the remaining 49 designs without having to redesign them. The Solutions Project can easily update the Excel spreadsheet at any time, which will automatically update the designs as well.

By including social media share buttons, users are able to quickly share individual state infographics while also emailing their governor to bring attention to the goals of The Solutions Project. The resulting interactive design led to mentions on Fast Company, USA TODAY, David Letterman, and more, along with notable government officials like Gavin Newsom sharing the designs. By making this interactive, we were able to provide all 50 infographics in under 4 weeks at one-tenth the cost of designing 50 individual projects.