This engaging racing bar chart animates the flow of Kickstarter funding across various creative categories over a span of years. Each frame in the animation corresponds to a single year from 2009 to 2023, displaying how total pledged amounts evolved across domains such as:
- Games
- Technology
- Design
- Film & Video
- Music
- …and more.
Key features include:
- Dynamic “Play” and “Pause” controls to explore funding changes interactively
- Each bar represents the total pledged amount for that category in a specific year
- Real-time label updates showing exact dollar values
- An evolving year label that tracks progression in the center of the chart
The bars animate smoothly, simulating a race-like effect where categories move up or down in rank based on their yearly funding performance.
Why This Visualization Matters
This visualization offers an intuitive and visual narrative of how the creative economy on Kickstarter has shifted over the past decade:
- Which categories consistently attract the most funding?
- What emerging trends have influenced the crowdfunding landscape?
- How have categories like Games or Technology grown compared to Arts or Music?
By animating the year-over-year race for funding, this chart helps reveal the momentum, volatility, and dominance of specific sectors in a way that static visuals can’t. It’s ideal for analysts, creators, economists, and enthusiasts looking to explore long-term patterns in creative entrepreneurship.
Topics
Arts Industries, Arts Organizations, Compensation, Economy, Expenditure
Chart Type
Visualization Type
Citation
Visualization by: Adithya Singupati
Data Source: Jonathan Leland, Kickstarter. Kickstarter Data, Global, 2009–2023 (ICPSR 38050). Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), 2024. Retrieved from https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/NADAC/studies/38050