Alberto Cairo's newly translated book on information graphics, The Functional Art, is a healthy mix of theory and how it applies in practice, and much of it comes from Cairo's own experiences designing graphics for major news publications. (I don't think Alberto remembers, but what seems like many years ago, I sat right behind him for two weeks at the New York Times when they brought him in to help illustrate Raphael Nadal's approach to tennis.)
His experience is hugely important in making the book work. There's a growing number of books on information graphics, and many are written and illustrated by people who don't have much experience displaying information, which leads to art books posing as something else. This isn't one of those books. Cairo knows what he's talking about.
As you flip through, you'll notice a lot of examples, with a focus on process and even a handful of pencil sketches. The last third of the book is interviews with those well-established in the field, which also walks you through how some graphics were made. There's a strong undertone of finding the balance between function (e.g. efficiency and accuracy) and engagement (e.g. use of circles).
Cairo comes from a journalism background, so the book is mostly in the context of presentation, but there's of course plenty that you can apply to more exploratory graphics. I would say though that Cairo's strength is in illustration and information, and so the book reflects that. This isn't a book that covers visual data analysis or statistical concepts, but it is one that explores and describes the making of high quality information graphics that lend clarity to concepts and ideas. If you're looking for the latter, The Functional Art is worth your time.
Check out the sample chapter on the publisher page, but then grab it on Amazon and save a few bucks.
As part of the Stories initiative that Facebook launched yesterday, an interactive map by Stamen Design shows how people are connected on Facebook, which offers a view into how countries are linked by language and history.
Immigration is one of the strongest links that seems to bind these Facebook neighbors, as thousands of people pour over borders or over seas, seeking jobs or fleeing violence, and making new connections and maintaining old friendships along the way. Economic links, through trade or investment, also seem to be strong predictors of country connectedness. And finally, one of the most overwhelming trends we found as we explored this graphic is the strong tie that remains between nations and their former colonizers, whose continued linguistic, cultural, and economic ties still echo today.
Stamen also explained other interesting facets in the map.
When you click on a country, the map updates to show where friends of those in that country are from. The top five are labeled. So whereas previous Facebook maps showed all connections at once, which focused on how many people use the service, this one focuses on the actual connections and what they mean.
Kat Downs, Laura Stanton and Karen Yourish of The Washington Post look at the tax breaks from the 1970s to 2011 in an interactive.
The U.S. government gives away more than $1 trillion a year in tax breaks — subsidies for individuals and companies that are often substitutes for direct government spending.
Once written into the tax code, they tend to stick around.
Each stripe represents a tax break, and height represents the value of the break in 2011. Interaction is key here, which lets you select categories such as education and health and mouse over breaks for more information. The chart above is also linked with a time series, which provides an alternative view to the same data.
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