Lead Designer, Developer,
Processing, Javascript
2023
By utilising Processing, I designed a GIF illustrating New Zealand’s widening wealth gap using simple geometric shapes. Inspired by the statistic that the wealthiest 10% own nearly 60% of all assets, the animation features a shrinking rectangle, an expanding circle, and radiating lines to symbolise economic disparity.
As the GIF progresses, the growing circle (representing the wealthy 10%) gradually consumes the shrinking rectangle (the remaining 40% of assets), with lines depicting the slow erosion of wealth. In the final stage, the circle engulfs the canvas, representing a future where inequality dominates.
Objective
How might we visually communicate New Zealand’s widening wealth inequality in a way that simplifies complex data and engages audiences through motion and design?
Research and Ideation
I began by sourcing and validating my statistic. An article according to the Guardian states that "The data show that New Zealand’s wealthiest 1% of adults – around 38,000 people – have $141bn in trusts. Another 150,000 or so people, rounding out the rest of the wealthiest 5%, have trusts worth a further $122bn."
The Guardian’s data, while reliable and derived from sources such as the IRD, NBR rich list, and the Household Economic Survey, had limitations - particularly around non-participation from wealthier households. Despite this, I chose it because of its strong cultural relevance and urgency in the New Zealand context.
In my ideation, I explored how shapes and motion could metaphorically represent wealth distribution. I sketched storyboard options that featured expanding circles, diminishing rectangles, and directional lines—symbols of imbalance and loss.
Wireframing and Prototyping
I translated my sketches into Processing, experimenting with geometric primitives. Early prototypes focused on animating a circle and rectangle to represent the wealthiest 10% versus the rest of society. Iterations explored:
Circle expansion rate (representing asset concentration).
Rectangle shrinkage (representing the erosion of middle and lower-class wealth).
Line animations (representing gradual leakage of wealth).
Prototyping was essential, as my limited coding background meant I had to test small components, refine them, and then integrate into a cohesive sequence.
