Explanagraphics

Category: Infographics

  • Don’t Forget the Little Data

    We’ve seen the topic of Big Data become sizzling hot. But there’s still a place for little data. Always Check your Arithmetic or “Every Cell Counts” Spell checkers have taught us that overreliance on automation can make fools of us. It applies to number crunching too… These guys started with big data — statistics about…

  • “What the F**k Are Infographics?” (notes on a presentation)

    “Infographics suck!” proclaimed Jennifer Daniel and Alicia DeSantis, graphics editors for the New York Times. They spoke yesterday at the ICON8 Conference, a national gathering of illustrators. I hung on their every word. It’s a pretty sassy claim, but they pointed out that “infographics” have become a style and a marketing ploy to get people…

  • Recent work: “infographic” for Oregon historic preservation

    Click to enlarge. The full image will open in a new brower window. In that window, your browser may let you zoom in to see the full resolution at 1200 pixels wide. The Historic Preservation League of Oregon, right here in Portland, asked me to make an infographic about their latest Endangered Places initiative. In addition to…

  • Infographics Everywhere! Cake or Pie?

    Here’s a clever idea! These are standard cakes on the inside, but the frosting is informative. The appearance indicates the ingredients of the cake in “pie chart” percentages. Idea by Marti Guixe, a designer in Barcelona. Now, if you’re disappointed that the cake is ordinary inside, you can bake your own with custom segments of…

  • Consider the Classic Infographic Form: the Timeline

    Humorists want their audience to “get it” right away. Don’t most of us want this? They become cartoonists. But any of can communicate better using that classic infographic, the timeline (and I’m not talking about the UI of that social site): Timelines can be a great way to sum up a series of events in…

  • New work: map enhances icons (or is it vice versa?)

    I created this map for a client who wanted a friendly sort of drawn map — the antithesis of Google Maps. She also wanted an icon to go with an accomplishment for each neighborhood. It was my choice to make the icons big and bold. The map is being used in a print piece for…

  • Don’t let your infographics mislead!

    When you look at this TIME infographic, do you think that 3/4 million Iran/Afghanistan vets have PTSD? (30% of 2.5 million) Or did you notice that the caption under the 30% says, “of veterans treated by the VA”? From TIME magazine March 25 2013, Commentary by Joe Klein, “Ten Years After: A National Disgrace” In fact,…

  • Those long infographics: the good, the bad, and the pretty

    Everyone has seen the very trendy “infographics”* in blog posts, where a variety of facts and data are presented in a visual format. They are often very long vertically, requiring the viewer to scroll in order to see it all. Some questions to ask about this sort of graphic, if you are considering creating one:…