Posts Tagged ‘Information Design’
Vote Shift Over Time InfoGraph by New York Times – A Master Class in Information Design
© Ugur Akinci Whether you like the results of the 2016 U.S. Presidential elections, there is no denying that the way New York Times analyzed the results is nothing short of masterful. I’m especially impressed by the way NYT summarized the VOTE SHIFT OVER TIME data in a series of simple and but very effective…
Read MoreScoville Pepper Heat Chart – Information Graphics that Shape the Conversation
© Ugur Akinci Sometimes information graphics hit the bulls-eye. Here is one such graphic, throwing precious light on a recent news event: spraying the UC Davis students with “pepper gas.” When I first read this story, I couldn’t help but assume that “pepper gas” would hurt just like jalapeno pepper, but only a lot more…
Read MoreHow to Describe a Step-by-Step Process Visually in MS Word 2010
© 2011 Ugur Akinci MS Word 2010 has these beautiful SMART ART drag-and-drop dynamic images that you can use to express many complex ideas like a step-by-step procedure, for example. There are almost infinite ways to do this but here’s a try: (1) Launch your MS Word 2010. Select the Insert tab on your MS…
Read MoreOn the Idea of “Product Evangelist” in Technical Communications
I love product evangelists for two good reasons: (1) I love software products. I have no idea how we lived back in the 60s and 70s without any software doing all these wonderful things on our desktops, laptops, and mobile devices. (2) I like and admire the product evangelists that I’ve met both in person…
Read More4 Reasons Why All Companies Should Have Terminology Management
What is Terminology Management? Terminology Management is a vital technical communication function for all corporations. Larger the corporation, more urgent is the need to have a standard catalog of terms and concepts used consistently across all levels of the organization. The goal of a terminology is to provide a set of terms that are well-defined,…
Read MoreMy Mom – The True Test of My Abilities as a Technical Communicator
As a technical communicator I’m sometimes stuck with situations that I can’t handle. Example… I have a smart mom. She is approaching 80 God bless her yet she is on the Internet. I really admire her tenacity and her lack of techno-phobia. Although she does not have a college degree, she did what millions of…
Read MoreWhat are the Differences Between Technical Illustration, Information Design, and Editorial Illustration?
© 2010 Ugur Akinci Thanks to a number of responses to an earlier post about Technical Illustration, I had the opportunity to think more about the topic. I now realize that I have not clarified the various niches that exist within the catch-all category of graphic arts that we call “technical illustration.” Here I’d like…
Read MoreHow to Create a Pie Chart with Adobe Illustrator
© 2010 Ugur Akinci Did you know that you can create 3-D pie (and other types of) charts with Adobe Illustrator? Here is how: (1) Select the pie chart tool from the tool bar and double-click it to display the Graph dialog box: (2) Enter 200 px for both Width and Height of the chart…
Read MoreGoogle Chrome Tutorial — Information Design at its Finest
© 2010 Ugur Akinci Have you seen this cartoon-style tutorial by Google Chrome? It’s one of the finest examples of information design that I’ve seen. It’s perfectly tuned to its intended audience (geeks age 16-36), is easy to follow, and chops down important concepts into easy-to-swallow visual chunks. http://www.google.com/googlebooks/chrome/big_00.html
Read MoreMS Word – How to Draw a Venn Diagram
Use a Venn Diagram (named after John Venn of 1881) to illustrate the overlap between different sets of data or concept. Each data set or concept is represented by a separate circle. What is a Venn Diagram? The Venn diagram is a diagram that shows all the possible logical relations between different sets. It is…
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