Make your data talk!

Using Information Design

Dedicated to:

HURIDOCS Chicken Analogy

Second Newsletter, October 2006http://www.humanrightstools.org/newsletter.htm

“Let’s face it. Advocacy reports are often tedious to read. Too much text, and too few graphics. Most readers only have time for the executive summary, and a 20-second browse through the main body of the report. What a pity!

How can we make our reports more appealing? How can we capture our readers' imaginations, and imprint a lasting message in their minds?”

http://www.princeton.edu/~ina/images/infographics/water_big.jpg

" For these maps, the idea was to make these major world issues as compelling as possible – to tell stories with images and typography instead of tables and lists. Several ideas that resonate for me in my work are:

- simplicity- meaning- playfulness"

HRT newsletter, October 2006

http://www.number27.org/

John Harris, graphic designer

http://www.princeton.edu/~ina/images/infographics/weapons_big.jpg

Imbalance between military spending and social spending in the United States budget True Majority: http://www.truemajority.org/oreos/

Ben Cohen

Hans Rosling, Karolinska InstituteGapminder: http://www.gapminder.org/ Ted Talks:http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/92

http://hrw.org/photos/2005/darfur/drawings/index.htm

Tactical Tech: info-design booklethttp://www.tacticaltech.org/infodesign

Not only documents can be vectors for your messages..

WHO Tobacco Atlashttp://www.who.int/tobacco/statistics/tobacco_atlas/en/

Many Eyeshttp://services.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/

http://kitab.nl/tunisianprisonersmap/

How to begin?

How will your data be used and who is it for?

How does this fit in to your advocacy strategy?

What will move your target?

What is my key message or desired outcome?

I can tell many stories what is the one I need to tell?

What shall I leave out?

What extra information do I need?