The 14 Best Visual Capitalist Infographics of 2014

For the final post of 2014, we’ve decided to come up with a list of the best original infographics of 2014 that were posted on the site. We based the list on a variety of criteria including views, comments from our audience, social media shares, and our own subjective opinion.

Click on any link below to visit the full version of each infographic on the list.

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Our 3D Printing infographic showed how additive manufacturing technology works, as well as how it may impact industries in the future. While consumer electronics is currently the biggest market with 22% market share, as adoption increases, 3D printing is expected to set to change the business of medicine, defense, vehicle manufacturing, jewelry, and much more.

This summer, working with Silver.com, we showed how bullion buyers can test for fake gold or silver. In recent years there have been various concerning cases of bullion counterfeiting, and so investors should be aware of these methods to ensure their gold and silver are the real deal.

We presented a vision of the Mining Company of the Future in this infographic and accompanying video version. Mining companies today face a complexity of problems: spiraling costs, government intervention, deepening pits, lower ore grades, and declining productivity are just some of the issues. These graphics convey a framework developed by KIN Catalyst through years of conferences, consultation, and hard work.

If you’re asking yourself if Vancouver is able to directly compare with Silicon Valley, the answer is a resolute “no”. To put things in perspective, Silicon Valley boasts at least 10x more tech employees, 20x more venture capital deals, and an unsurpassed track record of success. In fact, California alone grabbed a hefty 47% of all North American venture capital funding in 2013. However, the Canadian city is trending in the right direction and in this infographic we look at the evidence on both sides.

By 2100, our global population is to be between 9.6 and 12.3 billion. In the first part of our Peak Population Series we look at the crunch that a growing global population will put on natural resources.

On April 1, 2014, Canadian legislation changed significantly around medical marijuana. In our Medical Marijuana in Canada infographic we look at the new regulations, the market for medical cannabis, and its uses and treatments.

In November, Switzerland had a potential game-changing referendum on their central bank’s use of gold. The vote ended up being a firm “no”, but in this Swiss Referendum infographic we looked at the potential implications that a “yes” vote would have brought in Switzerland and the rest of the world.

We put together an ambitious five year history of Bitcoin together all the way from its inception to the end of 2013. See the Definitive History of Bitcoin in all of its glory as every notable event is compiled in one place in beautiful detail.

In the first part of our new Silver Series presented by Silver.com we covered the many phases of silver: its uses as a monetary, health, and industrial metal.

The Narwhal Club is Canada’s answer to Aileen Lee’s idea of a “Unicorn Club” for $1B+ valued startups in the United States. Working with Garibaldi Capital Advisors we compiled and curated a list of all tech startups in Canada worth over $1 Billion, including many companies that are on the verge of success.

The space industry is rapidly changing, and there are about a dozen private companies that are helping to shape the future of space travel. From space tourism to dreams of harvesting asteroids, we cover the movers and shakers of Space’s Private Sector in this infographic.

Recently, Tesla made the bold decision to build a $5 Billion factory to mass produce batteries with economies of scale. In this infographic on the Tesla Gigafactory, we look at the implications of this decision with regards to natural resources such as graphite, cobalt, and lithium.

In this infographic slideshow, we asked ourselves how big a year’s extraction of various metals would be if they were put in a hypothetical cube. Some of the answers will surprise you.

In our Gold Series, we covered everything on the yellow metal including its rich history, supply and geology, demand and uses, investment upside, and predictions for the future. Spanning five infographic parts, The Gold Series is a world class collection of informational and educational content on the fundamentals of gold investing. This series was viewed more than any other infographic this year.