The gun legislation in Florida has been a point of discussion among politicians and citizens. The extremely relaxed laws related to gun purchase and ownership in Florida have given it a reputation as one of the most gun-friendly states in the U.S. In 2018, Florida experienced one of the deadliest mass shootings (17 children were killed in the Parkland school shooting).

Founded by Manuel Oliver, father of Parkland victim Joaquin Oliver, ‘Change the Ref’ is an organization dedicated to bring about changes in the gun laws through nonviolent creative confrontation. This series aims to help Florida citizens realize the magnitude of the gun issue in the state so that Floridians can 1. Support Change the Ref in the fight for gun control and 2. Be better informed to make future decisions regarding gun control.

As an organization born in Parkland, Florida, Change the Ref seeks to empower not only those who can vote on gun laws, but also the youth who will be affected by these decisions. Therefore, the audience is anyone who lives in Florida, regardless of age. Floridians heavily over-index in every gun-related issue, and it was time to show them by how much. To do so, we compared Florida’s gun data with the data of several other states combined. Visually, we used the well-known Florida gun shape, but we made a very impactful comparison by creating other gun shapes with the states we were comparing Florida with.

We began development by finding gun data per state. Then we started combining the stats in order to find “hidden” gun shapes across the U.S. map. Once we created these gun shapes that matched the stats, we compared them to Florida’s shape and its corresponding data.

We wanted to keep the colors of the gun shapes dark grey to keep the connection to an actual gun. We chose to add subdued colors to the background to differentiate the ads but also reflect the serious subject matter.

Finally, the statistic was carefully placed in between both shapes, to emphasize the connection between the two while not diminishing the importance of either state’s gun stats.

We believe the first step towards change is awareness. Though Floridians may be aware of Florida’s “gun state” status, it is difficult to realize just how bad things are until you have a reference point. Because you can only fix a system once you realize it is broken, our aim is to bring relevant information to Floridians in a new and impressive way.

This combination of data and design validates the work of Change the Ref by demonstrating the desperate need for gun reform. Not is this bring value to the organization through mission validation and data visualization, it also brings value to the consumer in a similar way: with digestible facts. With this information in mind, consumers will be readier and more willing to act towards gun control in the future.