A Brief Review of “Visual Strategies” A Guide to Creating Effective Graphics

Creating a graphic is like writing: it requires planning what will be conveyed, the order of presentation, and what details will be emphasized. I have already mentioned the books of Edward Tufte. Visual Strategies, by Felice C. Frankel and Angela H. DePace, is a guide to graphics for scientists and engineers. Their Web site is http://visual-strategies.org/

Their strategies can be summarized as follows (quoted from an article in the NY Times, referenced below):

  • Consider how the graphic will be used, and by whom.
  • Choose a design vernacular: Will you use cartoons, charts, sketches, photos or other elements?
  • Organize the elements of your graphic and know how they relate to one another.
  • Identify what’s essential (and, by implication, what can be dropped).
  • Use color to draw attention, to label things that relate to one another or to express elements like scale.
  • Add other variables as needed.
  • Edit and refine. Reduce visual clutter. (Or as Dr. Tufte once put it, realize that every drop of ink must be in there for a reason.)


With care, a graphic can be worth much more than a thousand words.

Reference:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/science/visual-strategies-transforms-data-into-art-that-speaks.html?_r=0 accessed Feb 12, 2013

Creating a graphic is like writing: it requires planning what will be conveyed, the order of presentation, and what details will be emphasized. I have already mentioned the books of Edward Tufte. Visual Strategies, by Felice C. Frankel and Angela H. DePace, is a guide to graphics for scientists and engineers. Their Web site is www.visual-strategies.org.

Their strategies can be summarized as follows (quoted from an article in the NY Times, referenced below):

·         Consider how the graphic will be used, and by whom.

·         Choose a design vernacular: Will you use cartoons, charts, sketches, photos or other elements?

·         Organize the elements of your graphic and know how they relate to one another.

·         Identify what’s essential (and, by implication, what can be dropped).

·         Use color to draw attention, to label things that relate to one another or to express elements like scale.

·         Add other variables as needed.

·         Edit and refine. Reduce visual clutter. (Or as Dr. Tufte once put it, realize that every drop of ink must be in there for a reason.)

With care, a graphic can be worth much more than a thousand words.

Reference:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/science/visual-strategies-transforms-data-into-art-that-speaks.html?_r=0 accessed Feb 12, 2013

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.