The Billion Dollar-o-Gram - Information is Beautiful

I just finished watching an interview with journalist/designer David McCandless. A self-styled data journalist and information designer, McCandless is in the business of data visualization. Helping make sense of the huge numbers talked about in military spend, sovereign debt, bail out packages and alike. Below are three interesting graphical representations of data. One putting billion dollar/pound amounts talked about by the media into context and the other a time line of media scars like y2k, SARS and bird flu. His work is not without criticism, but the Information is Beautiful website is well worth exploring.

The Billion Dollar-o-Gram

This image arose out of frustration with media reporting of billion dollar amounts. That is, that they’re meaningless without context. But they’re continually reported as self-evident facts. 500 billion for this war. 50 billion for this pipeline. Literally mind-boggling amounts of money.

The Billion Pound-o-Gram

The Billion Pound O Gram, is a British cousin of The Billion Dollar Gram. It reveals the scale of the budget deficit in the centre of the British economy

Mountains out of Molehills. Time Line of Media Scare Stories



[edit on 9-8-2010 by LarryLove]

[edit on 9-8-2010 by LarryLove]

[edit on 9-8-2010 by LarryLove]

Just wanted to say quickly (I'm watching a news conference) that this is awesome!!! I will reply better in a few hours.



star+flag

[edit on 9/8/10 by ghostsoldier]

reply to post by LarryLove


Great info, it really tics me off how wall street bonuses are almost three times more than their profits.

I checked the site but couldn't find the "mountains of molehills" part.

Can you provide a direct link to that image?

reply to post by FortAnthem


Got all the images fixed now with scroll bars. Direct link to that part is:

Mountains out of molehills.

reply to post by LarryLove


Thanks, the images look great now.

That "Mountains to Molehills" pic reminds me of a great book I read;

Scared to Death: From BSE to Global Warming: Why Scares are Costing Us the Earth

From salmonella in eggs to BSE, from the Millennium Bug to bird 'flu, from DDT to passive smoking, from asbestos to global warming, 'scares' have become one of the most conspicuous and damaging features of our modern world. This book for the first time tells the inside story of each of the major scares of the past two decades, showing how they have followed a remarkably consistent pattern.It analyses the crucial role played in each case by scientists who have misread or manipulated the evidence; by the media and lobbyists who eagerly promote the scare without regard to the facts; and finally by the politicians and officials who come up with an absurdly disproportionate response, leaving us all to pay a colossal price, which may run into billions or even hundreds of billions of pounds. This book culminates in a chillingly detailed account of the story behind what it shows has become the greatest scare of them all: the belief that the world faces disaster through man-made global warming. In an epilogue the authors compare our credulity in falling for scares to mass-hysterias of previous ages such as the post-mediaeval 'witch craze', describing our time as a 'new age of superstition'.

The authors cover pretty much everything in that chart. I highly recommend that book.

reply to post by FortAnthem


Interesting book recommendation and one that I will enjoy reading. Means I gotta give some money to the 'man' or Amazon in this case, but what value can you put on good information.

The interview with the guy who created these was quite interesting. He was being countered by a another designer whose argument was that these graphical representations of information only make for good wall art, but doesn't encourage us to do any more about the issues raised than we already are. Asserting that we will continue to just let things happen without motivation to scrutinize the data for ourselves. However, information displayed in this way encourages you to think with a different perception and it certainly makes me want to notice things more.

reply to post by FortAnthem


In your quote, you mentioned the global warming scam and it reminded myself of this recent letter written by an honest and well meaning scientist of which are getting harder to find these days. Too many have their hands out while so few have the carrot dangling for profit, greed and.....to achieve the NWO at all cost. Massive ignorance in motion.

Click here for 'the letter'.

His conscience.....and therefor 'health' is much better after letting it all out.
One can't buy Brotherhood and the Soul is unredeemable.
Yeh, too much attracts too little.....
The vices of greed, lust for power or privilage often leaves a man looking over his shoulder to the point where his shoulder is rarely seen in public. Some know what I say, others are bliss of it all.
Freedom is earned, even amongst the 'wealthy'.

Nothing to add to the post but the author of those design's is a creative genius.

I have done similar things at work using Visio, Illustrator etc to create beautiful (yet simple to understand) diagrams of technical systems, architecture and interfaces.

Going to bookmark his website

reply to post by LarryLove


It isn't fair to include the forecasted amount of the war at all. (Could be less, likely to be more...)

Some of the money paid in these circumstances also is intended to make money, so it's probably an investment.

Still all bad news for the little guys. I just thought some clarification was needed.