Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
INFORMATION GRAPHICS
AN D PR ES E N TAT I O N
When you explore your data, you gather your own insights, so there's no need
to explain interesting facets of the data to yourself. But when your audience
of one increases to more than that, you must provide guidance and context
for what the data is about.
Often, this has little to do with accompanying graphics with long, detailed
essays (or dissertations) and more to do with carefully placed labels, titles, and
text to set up readers for what they're about to see. The visualization itself—the
shapes, colors, and sizes—represent the data, whereas words can make your
graphics easier to read and understand. Attention to typography, contextual
elements, and logical layouts also lend to an additional layer of information
on top of raw, statistical output.
A common saying in visualization design is to “let the data speak.” It means to
visualize your data (or information) and then get out of the way, which works
great when the data is familiar and the patterns are obvious.
For example, Patrick Smith used a minimalist approach to describe mental
disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, and narcolepsy,
as shown in Figure 2-12. He used basic shapes that are relatively small com-
pared to the space available on each poster, but the isolation lends to the
seriousness of the conditions.
Coffee Drinks Illustrated , shown in Figure 2-13, by Lokesh Dhakar is a nice
example of how small enhancements to basic charts can provide readers a
connection. Stacked bars for each drink form the core of this graphic, and
labels tell you what each bar represents. Dhakar also includes the name of
each coffee drink, making the content simple to read. The coffee mug and
steam illustration around each bar graph sets the context immediately.
The True Size of Africa by Kai Krause communicates its point by rotating coun-
tries away from their geographic orientation to fit inside Africa, which is
explained in the lead-in, as shown in Figure 2-14. You typically view Africa to
be a relatively smaller continent, based on the Mercator projection used in
online maps. However, in reality, Africa is much larger by area. The title makes
this obvious, and smaller maps and tables provide details.
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