Week 11: Information Grpahics

 Look at the following information graphic broken down into a series of 4 images and answer the following questions:

The original photograph is called “Skull with cigarette, 2007” by Chris Jordan. It has a caption below the photogtaphs which reads: “Depicts 200,000 packs of cigarettes, equal to the number of Americans who die from cigarette smoking every six months”. Why didn’t the photographer just present the information in numbers? Why explain the statistics in graphical form?

According to Lester (2006), information graphic is practical and effective to use, especially to illustrate and describe complicated information with possible clarity and it is widely employed to demonstrate a large quantity of information. This simply means that to present an amount of information by analyzing them, the main purpose of information graphic is to offer such information in the most simplistic yet comprehensible way. As we all know, there are a wide variety of how these informations can be presented. 

A skull signifies death or a disease. Lester quoted that "Memorable images, either directly experienced or seen through a mediated format, are those that you think about". A skull is an example of an image that may have the ability to trigger one's emotion and also rational aspect's of a person's personality. So as you can see, Chris Jordan did know chose to use a skull without a purpose. This way, viewers or readers are able to see how one main skull consists of little skulls with each representing 200,000 packs of cigarettes that represent the number of death of smoking cigarette every six months. 

According to Tidwell (2011) information graphic is used "to communicate knowledge visually rather than verbally". One thing about numbers, is that they are just plain numbers. Knowing how in today's world we are always surrounded by images and colours, it would be rather confusing to collect these information on the number of deaths with the brands of these cigarettes into our heads. More over, by inserting the brands of cigarettes, viewers are able to tell which companies are literally killing us. In addition, the range of data is based on a 6 months data collection. By inserting different brands of cigarettes and the number of death, it would be practical to represent the 'actuality' of such information. 

In conclusion, information graphs are supposed to give an effect, especially by relating such information to smokers and the public. Such graphs could directly create awareness - which I find is the main objective. This graph does not only tell a story but also, it is an interactive way to reach the target audience. 

References:

Lester, P. M. (2006). Visual communication:Images with messages. USA: Cengage Learning. 

Tidwell, J. (2011). Designing Interfaces (2nd ed). California: O'Reily Media Inc.