Infographics that just work better on paper

As much as I love rich interactive visualizations and motion graphics, there are certain stories that are simply better told in print. The New York Times has begun a series titled 'The Way North.' This is the intro: "Join Damien Cave and Todd Heisler as they travel up Interstate 35, from Laredo, Tex., to Duluth, Minn., chronicling how the middle of America is being changed by immigration."

There's a route map in the online version of the first story, a good photo slideshow, and a call to readers to participate in the reporting, but none of those compares to the beauty and the detail of the tessellated map in today's print NYT, designed by Derek Watkins. It's big —as tall as the page itself,— stunning, and it uses annotation well. If I were not a subscriber, I'd buy the paper just to enjoy it for 10 minutes or more.

I've just shot a photo of the map. Also, don't miss Watkins' portfolio and blog —even if it hasn't been updated since 2012.