Sometimes, data looks best when it's presented without too much fanfare—like in these gorgeous minimalist maps by designer Michael Pecirno, which show off the U.S. landscape with nothing but two simple colors.
Taking data from USDA, Pecirno has made a series of what he calls Minimal Maps, visualizing the coverage of grass, woodland, crops, urban sprawl and more across the entire country. He explains:
The data provided by the USDA is incredible and includes a tremendous wealth of information that makes up the composition of America. By pulling this data and extrapolating specific categories I've been able to produce a number of unique and explicit maps that aim to push us away from the ubiquitous and low-resolution (regarding information content) physical and political map.
You can check the maps out over on his website. [Michael Pecirno via Flowing Data]
Image by Michael Pecirno