My experimentation with infographics has continued.
I used a more obscure subject, the sectoral balances. And I made four versions in light of the comments received.
This is the version in the first style I created:
I then tried it in the 'old-style' notebook format:
But then, having noted all the comments on the need to meet the needs of people with dyslexia, and to make the design generally more friendly, I created this:
The background is paler and the text more contrasted.
Finally, I redesigned the first version with a pastel green background.
Call these A, B, C and D.
Which works best? I admit I am inclined to C. But you can disagree!
Loading ...Thanks for reading this post.
You can share this post on social media of your choice by clicking these icons:
There are links to this blog's glossary in the above post that explain technical terms used in it. Follow them for more explanations.
You can subscribe to this blog's daily email here.
And if you would like to support this blog you can, here:
Buy me a coffee!
Being one of those ‘people with dyslexia’ I still prefer the ‘old stye’. But then it may be because I’m very old!
C is winning though
Thanks to all for the combination of transparency and impact.
In reality, is it possible for politicians, the Treasury, the main stream media, academics etc. not to know the realities of sectoral balances?
In reality, no.
My wife is dyslexic and finds sentences and paragraphs that are in all capitals very difficult to read. Mixed case to her means the words have more “shape” and are more easily processed. I suspect others may differ, so just an observation.
Noted.
These infographics are just great. I’m spamming my Substack notes with them. Thanks!
Hello Richard
If I were to rank these it would be
1.C
2.B
3.D
4.A
Infographics with a white background are not for me. I’m not keen on the yellow highlighter stuff either.
Different people, different stuff, I guess. Just what works for me.
I can see these on t-shirts and mugs. As long as they could be funded. Maybe you could raise a separate fundraiser specifically for these or something? I don’t know about these things. It’s just a random thought.
Thanks
Merch would have to pay for itself…..
Nice chart
I like these because they are concise.
A nit pick: in box 2 you have the government sector, in chart 2.1 you have “public”. Likewise “business” and “corporate”.
More generally, box 3 essentially says money can neither be created nor destroyed, the total is always zero. Fair enough I guess and consistent with double entry bookkeeping. This implies the government’s balance at the Bank of England is total money issued but not withdrawn (via tax or gilts). It seems to me that this is potentially confusing to the uninitiated for at least two reasons. First, a layman might reasonably ask, how is always having a total of zero consistent with the MMT assertion that the government can create money? Secondly, they might point out that the government’s balance could be adjusted by an arbitrary amount, positive or negative, with no substantive effect. This, they may feel, suggests something odd, or fundamentally different about the government’s balance (and they’d be right). I wonder whether it is possible to clarify this confusion? Perhaps in another info graphic about government finance, rather than complicating this one?? It would be great to do so to facilitate understanding.
Noted, but show me how you would redraft it in the same word limits. I am curious, because i thought this the best I can do. These are not essays, remember. They are meant to introduce a topic.
I’ve recently been playing around with AI to produce infographics. Initially to help to visualise the ideas within a long and complex article looking at research on the different models and filters people use to determine what is truth. I then versioned the infographic using prompts for different audiences and different scenarios. ‘Bright 14 year old’ works well.
Thanks for the dyslexia prompt tip…I’ll be using.
Can you share any thinking or examples by email?