PRESENTER: Alberto Cairo (@albertocairo), Instructor, University of Miami. DESCRIPTION: Too many journalists still relate the word "design" to making pages and websites look prettier. As a consequence, they think that the main goal of an infographic is to be eye-catching, engaging, and fun. They argue that infographics are means to "simplify" data that only specialized professionals are capable of creating. This presentation will debunk all these myths and propose an alternative view of infographics and visualizations as means to make messages richer, deeper, and more effective.

1. Population with a Percentage of
BA degree or higher obese people
DC
45%
States with a larger
percentage of people with
higher education than
with obesity
States with a larger
percentage of obese people
than of people with
a higher education
US average
27.2% BA or higher
27.0% Obese
40%
MA
CO
NH
MD
35%
NJ
CT
VT MS
A Functional Art
VI
MN WV
AL SC
KY
CA LA
TX
MI
UT TN
NY MO
OK
KS AR
30%
WA GA
how to embrace and teach
IN
KS
OH
PA
IA SD
MO IL ND
AZ DE MD
GA NC
infographics and visualization
NE
FL IL ME
OR RI OR
WI DE FL
AK HI ID
MT WI
SD VA
PA RI
ND WA
NM NM
25%
SC WY
NE NH
OH MN
NV AK
TX AZ
MI CA
IA NY
TN NJ
ME VT
ID
NC MA
OK MT
WY HI
LA CT
Alberto Cairo
AL IN UT
KY CO NV
DC
MS
20%
AR
University of Miami
www.thefunctionalart.com
15%
WV
Twitter: @albertocairo

2. An infographic is a
visual representation
of evidence, a tool
for analysis,
communication, and
understanding

3. Two parts
Evidence
Representation

4. Throughout the years I’ve
become concerned about
the way we teach what
evidence is in J-Schools

5. http://ilovecharts.tumblr.com/
“How silly. I’d never fall for that one!”

6. Homeopathy, autism and vaccines...
We bite baits too easily

7. “It got worse after the zero-alcohol law was approved.
Deaths in car accidents have not stopped growing!”

8. Deaths per
100.000 vehicles!

9. “Our world is not about ideology
anymore. It’s about complexity”
Matt Taibbi, Griftopia

10. Are we teaching students and learn ourselves
how to deal with that complexity?

11. Moreover...
We talk a lot about storytelling, but are we
really sure that we understand what the
challenges and limits of storytelling may be?
Do we teach them to our students?

12. POPULATION CHANGE
Above
Average +9.4%
DIAGRAM
Below
+0.1%
I am a journalist and a
NEWS IN PERSPECTIVE -0,1%
No data -9,4%
available
Brazil’s
Demographic
Opportunity
How Brazil can take advantage
of a future with fewer children
designer: Storytelling is
part of my life
per couple.
Alberto Cairo, Francine Lima,
Marco Vergotti
PRELIMINARY DATA FROM THE 2010 CENSUS
create an interesting picture of the changes
2000 2010 Change
that the Brazilian population has gone through
AP 477,032 648,553 36.0%
in the past ten years. Brazil’s population
RR 324,397 425,398 31.1%
grew, on average, 10% between 2000 and
AC 557,526 707,125 26.8%
2010, but the fertility rate is below 2.1 children
DF 2,051,146 2,469,489 20.4%
per woman, the minimum to keep a PA 6,192,307 7,443,904 20.2%
population from shrinking. According to AM 2,812,557 3,350,773 19.1%
César Marques, a demographer from the TO 1,157,098 1,373,551 18.7%
University of Campinas, the main challenge MT 2,504,353 2,954,625 18.0%
Brazil will face in the future is how to maintain GO 5,003,228 5,849,105 16.9%
a healthy Social Security system if the MS 2,078,001 2,404,256 15.7%
number of older and retired people will SC 5,356,360 6,178,603 15.4%
likely be much larger than it is today. SE 1,784,475 2,036,277 14.1%
Read on to learn about all the variables at play MA 5,651,475 6,424,340 13.7%
RN 2,776,782 3,121,451 12.4%
in this story.
RO 1,379,787 1,535,625 11.3%
CE 7,430,661 8,180,087 10.1%
Above
AL 2,822,621 3,093,994 9.6% average
1 BRAZIL’S POPULATION IS BIGGER ES 3,097,232 3,392,775 9.5% (Data updated on November 4, 2010)
PB 3,443,825 3,753,633 9.0% The map shows the change in population
The 2010 Census has revealed a 9.4% in Brazilian municipalities. Between
PI 2,843,278 3,086,448 8.6%
population increase between Below
PE 7,918,344 8,541,250 7.9% average 2000 and 2010, 1,630 cities and towns,
2000 and 2010. The differences between SP 37,032,403 39,924,091 7.8% from a total of 5,506, lost population. Rio
states, as you can see on the chart PR 9,563,458 10,266,737 7.4% Grande do Sul is the state with a the largest
on the right, are noticeable. Most rich MG 17,891,494 19,159,260 7.1% number of municipalities that lost inhabitants,
states, such as São Paulo and Rio, didn’t RJ 14,391,282 15,180,636 5.5%
due to a significant drop in fertility rates
grow as fast as the ones in the north east. BA 13,070,250 13,633,969 4.3%
and domestic migration
RS 10,187,798 10,576,758 3.8%
2000 169.799.170
2010 190,732,694 AVERAGE +9.4%
Sources: IBGE, UN, World Bank, César Marques (UNICAMP)
2 —BUT THE FERTILITY RATE IS MUCH LOWER THAN EXPECTED 3 AS A CONSEQUENCE, POPULATION WILL STOP GROWING—
A study in 2004 estimated that in 2010, the fertility rate would be 2.4 children Forecasts made in 2004 anticipated that Brazil’s population
per woman, on average. But new data collected by the IBGE prove that would stop growing in 2040. But the most recent data from
the fertility rate is already 1.9, below the threshold called “replacement rate”. the IBGE suggests that this could happen much earler, in 2030.
When the fertility rate drops below this number, the population of a country
will eventually start to shrink and grow older. New population
250 million people peak: moment
when population
will stop growing
Number of children
per woman
Each line 125
represents Former population
a country peak (calculated
in 2004)
or continent 0
1950 2030 2040 2050
8
4 —AND IT WILL BECOME OLDER Men Women
75 years
NIGERIA Comparing the current
7 population pyramid with the 65
one predicted for 2050 50
30
2005 20
6 Forecast for 2050
2 1 0 1 2
Millions of people per age group
But many distrust
YEMEN
5 How Brazil can transform the
África population challenge into an opportunity
As the population ages, the proportion of people of working age increases.
4 The country will therefore have more people producing wealth (if the labor
WORLD market can absorb them) and fewer children to consume investments. It is a
storytelling for very
AVERAGE
window of opportunity, because in some cases the number of people of
working age to fall back when older people are leaving the market.
3 The population under 15 years of age is falling today. A smaller number of
INDIA student in public schools will facilitate the quality of teaching, if the amount
Australia invested in education stays the same.
Asia
Latin America Educational policy focused on low-income youth favors the formation of more
good reasons...
North America skilled workforce and greater social mobility.
2
BRAZIL
Replacement
level: average of In the future, Brazil will reach the stage of Europe and Japan, which struggle
Europe
2.1 children per woman to support their elders. This is why it’s so important to prepare a more balanced
retirement system, which will include retirement at a later age.
CHINA
1
Years

13. “Power”, “Impact”, “Captivate”, “Convince”, “Inspire”,
“Persuade”, “Connect”...
You may say that these are secondary values for journalists but are you really sure about that?

14. The human brain tends to impose linear patterns to
non-linear phenomena to make sense of them
This can lead to “narrative fallacies”:
Seeing connections and causation where there’s none;
oversimplification of complex phenomena. Journalists
are not aware of brain bugs and biases, in general

15. I don’t even need to remind you of this, right?
Many said that the main sin Lehrer committed was to make up
quotes, but the main problem was not that: His books impose
cohesive narrative structures to disperse bits of evidence

16. But we cannot avoid stories: The serial structure of
stories matches the serial dynamics of the thinking mind
In part, we like stories because we create stories
in our heads to make sense of the world

17. Perhaps we need to rethink how we teach
storytelling at J-School and the scientific
method in research classes: Less theory and
abstraction; less “follow your instincts” BS.
Make statistics and qualitative methods fun
and exciting, and learn about cognitive
biases and shortcomings

18. Two parts
Evidence
Representation

19. Look for “Best
Infographics”
in Google and
you’ll find things
like this

20. Look for “Best No structure
Infographics”
in Google and No context
you’ll find things
like this It is not a visual
representation, but
a simple layout
with a bunch of
unrelated numbers.

21. An infographic (or visualization)
should not be just a pretty
picture but a structured, accurate
visual presentation of evidence

22. Graphics and glasses:
With no glasses, the world looks like noise to me;
with glasses, chaos becomes signal

23. A graphic is a tool. In a very literal sense:
It extends our visual brain, it lets us see beyond
what we would normally see, the same way a
hammer makes us literally stronger

24. A graphic is a tool. In a very literal sense:
It extends our visual brain, it lets us see beyond
what we would normally see, the same way a
hammer makes us literally stronger

25. Before you even switch the computer on, ask yourself
what are the questions that readers most likely will
want to have answered. Or what tasks your graphic
should help readers with
Choose graphic forms accordingly
Function doesn’t dictate form, but function does
restrict the variety of forms it is acceptable to use for
each story and set of data
(choosing forms is not a matter of personal taste only)

26. http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/
datablog/interactive/2012/sep/12/
us-poverty-map-2011-census
The Guardian

27. How
much
you
would
save
if
federal
income
taxes
were
reduced
20%
Income First Second Third Fourth Fifth
Quintile (Lowest) (Top)
Average -$10 -$192 -$706 -$1,679 -$7,762
tax
change
SOURCE:
The
New
York
Times GRAPHIC:
ACME

28. How
much
you
would
save
if
federal
income
taxes
were
reduced
20%
Income First Second Third Fourth Fifth
Quintile (Lowest) (Top)
Average
tax
change
-$10 -$192 -$706 -$1,679
?
-$7,762
SOURCE:
The
New
York
Times GRAPHIC:
ACME

29. How
much
you
would
save
if
federal
income
taxes
were
reduced
20%
Income First Second Third Fourth Fifth
Quintile (Lowest) (Top)
Average -$10 -$192 -$706 -$1,679 -$7,762
tax
change
SOURCE:
The
New
York
Times GRAPHIC:
ACME

30. How
much
you
would
save
if
federal
income
taxes
were
reduced
20%
Income First Second Third Fourth Fifth
Quintile (Lowest) (Top)
Average -$10 -$192 -$706 -$1,679 -$7,762
tax
change
SOURCE:
The
New
York
Times GRAPHIC:
ACME
How
much
you
would
save
if
federal
income
taxes
were
reduced
20%
Income
Quintile Average
tax
change
First
(Lowest) -$10
Second -$192
Third -$706
Fourth -$1,679
Fifth
(Top) -$7,762
SOURCE:
The
New
York
Times GRAPHIC:
ACME

31. Infographics should not be
used to simplify stories, but
to clarify them

32. USA Today

33. Three steps to become a
visualization/infographics designer
First one is to accept that a graphic is a
tool for understanding and get used to
critically analyzing published examples

34. Second step is to start
making simple graphics
about topics you care
about. Tons of them.
“Obesity is, on average,
inversely proportional to the
average education of the
population”

35. Data

36. This doesn’t work...
Percentage
with
a Percentage
of
BA
degree
or
higher obese
people

37. This is a little bit better, but not much...
Percentage
with
a Percentage
of
BA
degree
or
higher obese
people
Lower Higher Lower Higher

38. Percentage
with
a Percentage
of
BA
degree
or
higher obese
people
0 50 100 0 50 100
District
of
Columbia 45.7 Mississippi 34
Massachusetts 36.7 West
Virginia 32.5
Colorado 35.5 Alabama 32.2
New
Hampshire 35.4 South
Carolina 31.5
Maryland 35.2 Kentucky 31.3
New
Jersey 34.6 Louisiana 31
Connecticut 34.5 Texas 31
Vermont 34.2 Michigan 30.9
Virginia 33.1 Tennessee 30.8
Minnesota 32.5 Missouri 30.5
California 31.7 Oklahoma 30.4
Utah 30.8 Arkansas 30.1
New
York 30.6 Georgia 29.6
Kansas 30 Indiana 29.6
Washington 29.9 Kansas 29.4
Missouri 28.1 Ohio 29.2
Arizona 28 Pennsylvania 28.6
Georgia 27.6 Iowa 28.4
Illinois 27.4 Illinois 28.2
Rhode
Island 27.2 Delaware 28
US
AVERAGE 27.2 North
Carolina 27.8
Delaware 26.9 South
Dakota 27.3
Hawaii 26.6 North
Dakota 27.2
F lorida 26 Maryland 27.1
Oregon 25.9 US
AVERAGE 27.0
Wisconsin 25.6 Nebraska 26.9
Alaska 25.5 Maine 26.8
Montana 25.5 Oregon 26.8
South
Dakota 25.5 Florida 26.6
Pennsylvania 25.3 Idaho 26.5
North
Dakota 25.2 Wisconsin 26.3
New
Mexico 25.1 Virginia 26
South
Carolina 24.9 Rhode
Island 25.5
Nebraska 24.8 Washington 25.5
Ohio 24.6 New
Mexico 25.1
Nevada 24.5 Wyoming 25.1
Texas 24.5 New
Hampshire 25
Michigan 24.4 Minnesota 24.8
Iowa 24.3 Alaska 24.5
Tennessee 24.3 Arizona 24.3
Maine 24.2 California 24
Idaho 23.8 New
York 23.9
North
Carolina 23.4 New
Jersey 23.8
Oklahoma 22.9 Vermont 23.2
Wyoming 22.5 Massachusetts 23
Louisiana 22.4 Montana 23
Alabama 22.3 Hawaii 22.7
Indiana 21.1 Connecticut 22.5
Kentucky 21 Utah 22.5
Mississippi 20.1 Nevada 22.4
Arkansas 18.8 District
of
Columbia 22.2
West
Virginia 15.3 Colorado 21

39. US
obesity
average:
27%
50
DC
45
40
CO MD
35
Percentage
of
people
with 30
a
BA
degree
People
with
a
BA,
or
higher US
average:
27.2%
25
WY
20
AR
WV
15
10
20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36
Percentage
of
obese
people

40. Population with a Percentage of
BA degree or higher obese people
Slopegraph
DC
45%
States with a larger
percentage of people with
higher education than
with obesity
States with a larger
percentage of obese people
than of people with
a higher education
US average
27.2% BA or higher
27.0% Obese
40%
MA
CO
NH
MD
35%
NJ
CT
VT MS
VI
MN WV
AL SC
KY
CA LA
TX
MI
UT TN
NY MO
OK
KS AR
30%
WA GA
IN
KS
OH
PA
IA SD
MO IL ND
AZ DE MD
GA NC
NE
FL IL ME
OR RI OR
WI DE FL
AK HI ID
MT WI
SD VA
PA RI
ND WA
NM NM
25%
SC WY
NE NH
OH MN
NV AK
TX AZ
MI CA
IA NY
TN NJ
ME VT
ID
NC MA
OK MT
WY HI
LA CT
AL IN UT
KY CO NV
DC
MS
20%
AR
WV
15%

41. Population with a Percentage of
BA degree or higher obese people
Population with a Percentage of
BA degree or higher obese people
DC
45%
States with a larger
percentage of people with
higher education than
with obesity DC
States with a larger
percentage of obese people
than of people with 45%
a higher education
US average
States with a larger
27.2% BA or higher percentage of people with
27.0% Obese
higher education than
40%
with obesity
States with a larger
percentage of obese people
than of people with
MA a higher education
CO
NH US average
35%
MD
27.2% BA or higher
NJ
CT 27.0% Obese
VT MS
VI
40%
MN WV
AL SC
KY
CA LA
TX
MI
UT TN
NY MO
OK
KS AR
30%
WA GA
IN
KS
OH
PA
IA SD
MO IL ND
AZ DE MD
NC
FL
GA
IL
NE
ME MA
OR RI OR
WI DE FL
AK HI ID
MT WI
SD VA
PA RI
WA
CO
ND
25%
NM NM NH
SC WY MD
NE
OH
NH
MN 35%
NV
TX
AK
AZ NJ
MI
IA
CA
NY CT
TN
ME
NJ
VT VT MS
ID
NC MA
OK MT
WY HI
LA CT
AL IN UT
KY CO NV
DC
VI
MS
20%
MN WV
AL SC
AR KY
CA LA
TX
MI
UT TN
NY MO
OK
KS AR
WV 30%
15%
WA GA
IN
KS

42. Population with a Percentage of MN
BA degree or higher obese people AL SC
KY
DC CA LA
45%
TX
States with a larger
MI
percentage of people with UT TN
higher education than
with obesity NY MO
OK
States with a larger KS AR
percentage of obese people 30%
than of people with
a higher education WA GA
IN
US average KS
27.2% BA or higher
27.0% Obese
OH
40% PA
IA SD
MO IL ND
AZ DE MD
GA NC
NE
FL IL ME
OR RI OR
MA WI DE FL
AK HI ID
CO MT WI
NH
MD SD VA
35%
NJ PA RI
CT
VT
ND WA
MS
NM NM
25%
VI SC WY
MN WV NE NH
AL SC
KY
OH MN
CA LA
TX
NV AK
MI TX AZ
UT
NY
TN
MO MI CA
KS
OK
AR IA NY
30%
WA GA TN NJ
IN
KS ME VT
OH ID
PA
NC MA
IA
MO IL
DE
SD
ND OK MT
AZ
GA NC MD
NE WY HI
FL
OR
IL
RI
ME
OR LA CT
WI
AK
DE
HI
FL
ID AL IN UT
MT WI
VA KY CO NV
SD
PA RI
WA
DC
ND
NM NM
25%
WY MS
SC
NE
OH
NH
MN
20%
NV AK
TX AZ
MI CA
IA NY
TN NJ
ME VT
ID
NC
OK
MA
MT
AR
WY HI
LA CT
AL IN UT
KY CO NV
DC
MS
20%
AR
WV
WV 15%
15%

43. Third step is to educate yourself in creating hierarchies,
narratives, stories, etc., that make your presentations
understandable and useful. Don’t just throw data at readers
ENEM test

44. http://revistaepoca.globo.com/diagrama/noticia/2011/09/confira-media-e-o-ranking-das-escolas-na-prova-do-enem-2010.html

45. Show me what I’d not
be able to see otherwise

46. Population with a Percentage of
BA degree or higher obese people
DC
45%
States with a larger
percentage of people with
higher education than
with obesity
States with a larger
percentage of obese people
than of people with
a higher education
US average
27.2% BA or higher
27.0% Obese
40%
MA
CO
NH
MD
35%
NJ
Thank you!
CT
VT MS
VI
MN WV
AL SC
KY
CA LA
TX
MI
UT TN
NY MO
OK
KS AR
30%
WA GA
IN
KS
OH
PA
IA SD
MO IL ND
AZ DE MD
GA NC
NE
FL IL ME
OR RI OR
WI DE FL
AK HI ID
MT WI
SD VA
PA RI
ND WA
NM NM
25%
SC WY
NE NH
OH MN
NV AK
TX AZ
MI CA
IA NY
TN NJ
ME VT
ID
NC MA
OK MT
WY HI
LA CT
Alberto Cairo
AL IN UT
KY CO NV
DC
MS
20%
AR
University of Miami
www.thefunctionalart.com
15%
WV
Twitter: @albertocairo