Extrude your polygons
In ArcScene, when viewing your map in 3D, the first task is to extrude your polygons by the variable you wish to encode in the z dimension.
When you see election results on a flat map, you can get a distorted view. In 2D, this map of the 2012 US presidential election is mostly red as Romney voters turned out in force in many areas with low populations. When we flip the map to 3D we see the blue blocks of Obama voters rising from the map. We love this map lets you control the view to get a more realistic sense of voter patterns.
This map uses an isometric projection to render prism heights so they are equally scaled across the 3D view. We normally view 3D in perspective, so things that are farther away appear smaller. An isometric projection preserves relative heights so you can directly compare objects in the foreground and background. This map shows the total number of votes cast with height and the percentage of votes per candidate with color.
Map Author
Professional cartonerd, amateur drummer and snowboarder. Lifetime encourager of cartographic quality not quantity. Map with the times while building on the past.
If you liked this map, check out these other Maps We Love that explore similar topics.