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30 March 2007

"That looks cool!" versus "What does it mean?"

Every Sunday, I flip open the New York Times Magazine to the weekly social commentary, "The Way We Live Now," and I check out the accompanying data presentation graphic. First, I think, "That looks cool." Then, for the next several minutes, I wonder, "What does it mean?" I'm usually looking at an illustration like this:

I sat down to write this entry ready to argue that clarity is always more important than aesthetics when communicating with data and that the media needs to be more educated when it comes to data presentation. I still think those things. However, after a little googling, I discovered that Catalogtree (as in "Chart by Catalogtree" in the graphic above) is a Dutch design firm, not a research organization, and I started to wonder whether the Times knowingly prioritizes art over data for these graphics. Maybe communication is not the primary goal. This is, after all, a magazine, including fashion and a serial comic strip along with coverage of political and social issues.

How should a publication balance illustration and information? If I belong to a statistics department, am I allowed to say, "That looks cool!" and not point out that a chart is indecipherable? My gut reaction is that information should always win, but maybe I'm wrong - and I do like the designs. You can see some of Catalogtree's other creations for the Times here and their other work here.

Posted by Cassandra Wolos at March 30, 2007 1:49 PM