Why Is the Sky Blue?

HALFTONE

Halftone is a San Francisco-based design consultancy and studio. Founded in 2013 by Paul van Slembrouck, a graduate of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, and Michael Porath, a graduate of University of California, Berkeley, Halftone develops ways of presenting otherwise-complex information in an accessible, visual way. This includes not only infographics and slide shows, but also interactive maps and visualizations about temperature changes, historical trends, and current political events. Samples of their work are online at halftone.co.

Halftone created “Why Is the Sky Blue?” in 2013. It was a Staff Pick on the visualization site Visual.ly and was viewed over 3,000 times in its first two months. With clear, simple language and prominent, paced graphics as well as a wide range of rhetorical strategies, it is an animated explanation that is both visually attractive and informative.

Click below to play the video, and then watch as the cursor automatically clicks “Got It” and moves through the visualization.

Questions on Subject

  1. Question

    What three explanations for the sky’s color does the film dismiss?

  2. Question

    What was Rayleigh’s discovery in the 1870s?

  3. Question

    Explain why the closer the sun gets to the horizon, the redder the sky appears.

Questions on Strategy

  1. Question

    What is the film’s thesis? When does it appear?

  2. Question

    This video employs a number of writing strategies. Pick three strategies from the following list, and identify a moment when the presentation uses them: narration, description, illustration, process analysis, comparison and contrast, and cause and effect.

  3. Question

    What elements of the presentation give it credibility? Explain.

Questions on Medium

  1. Question

    Throughout the film, the text uses highlighted colors to emphasize key words. How do they help viewers make sense of the message? Explain.

  2. Question

    In the original version, viewers clicked “Got It” in the top right corner of the screen to proceed to the next slide. How might this interactivity affect your impression of the presentation?