Thursday, March 4, 2010

reading is fun and mental? really?


my latest information graphic assignment was to re-design an existing one... (according to our teacher 90% + of what is being touted as "information design" out there sucks.) it was pretty clear when i found this transparency from good magazine that it needed some help. the concept was cool (showing the literacy in various countries by equating word count to percentage of population that can read) but the overall message was missing. i felt that for the viewer to truly understand the data, they needed to be able to start with the bigger picture (and be able to compare the literacy of other places to where they themselves live) and then delve in to get more detailed information if interested. to do this, interactivity was a necessity. (and actual interactivity, not just zooming and dragging.) finally! a use for flash that doesn't feel forced!

click here to see it in action! and click here to see the original.

(oh, and it's not fully functional. i only put in all the data in the arab states book. for sanity's sake.)

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