Psychedelic Election Map

Complex data can be made intuitively understandible through creative imagery. Although we know that electoral votes are based on population, the standard red/blue map makes it look as though the country is solidly Republican (due to that party's dominance in large, sparsely populated regions). Maps with shades of purple are one way of illustrating the actual vote count in each state. Here is another map from the University of Michigan that combines a county level of detail with area proportional to population and a few shades of purple in counties where the outcome was close.