Information Graphics April 21, 2009
Posted by kd49 in : Class 9 - Infographics, Classes , comments closed Example of how color is communicated in a design presentation [pdf]Review of color compositions
Information graphics represents the intersection of graphics, journalism and science.
The goal of the graphic is to efficiently communicate information or trends in other words, to help people learn. The focus is usually finding interesting or important patterns in the data and displaying them succinctly.
The information is the interface. Music animation machine
- overlays or sometimes call cosmographs show spatial patterns in data: NY Times Disappearing Food
- color code or key maps: Washington DC land use near the new stadium
- scaled maps: world map scaled by population
and global spending - How much is your vote worth, NY Times
Line Graphs – show comparisons and clarifies a relationship over time. Vertical baseline should be zero or have a reference to a zero baseline otherwise data could be deceiving. Line graphs should only be used when the positions of the x-axis are numeric.
Stack graphics which use areas to convey numbers:
Bar Graphs are classic method for numeric comparisons. Their advantage is they are capable of showing one or more sets of variables. Ideal for discreet and fixed data.
A variation of a bar graph is a block histogram – displays the distribution of numeric values in a data set.
Pie Chart based on division of the whole or parts of the whole. Can be limiting
Mosaic or Vorno Treemaps are effective for visualizations of hierarchical structures
Bubble Graphs display a set of numeric values as a circles. It is especially useful for data sets with dozens to hundreds of values, or when the values differ by several orders of magnitude. Effective for displaying large quantities of data
Pictographs use images often in specific sizes or quantities to represent numerics
Variation is tag clouds where words are scaled to represent frequency. These are sometimes called Wordles
Image vs Data – sometimes an image can be more effective than a data display and sometimes the data itself communicates the message most effectively.
Flow Chart
- Sequence chart showing relationship or connections: Al Qaeda or
- Timeline displays events in chronolgical sequence: Events leading up to the Iraq War
Architectural diagrams
Five approaches to deaths of Americans in Iraq
Numerics
Graphic representation 1
Graphic representation 2
Image
Map and audio video based
Successful infographics are:
- Clear
- Use the data and don’t invent
- Have little or no superfluous detail or ornament
examples from NYTimes artist S Carter
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ASSIGNMENT
Develop an information graphic to describe an aspect of your life.