By day I work in the aerospace industry (it pays the rent). Sadly, I see a lot of phenomenally complex, Hydra-like graphics from my employer and from its customers...sadly, often in Powerpoint presentations. They haven't taken the time to learn how to take graphics and break them down into layers, layers that are then presented one slide or one figure at a time.

I once completely missed 20 minutes of a presenter's narration because I was completely wrapped up in trying to understand the graphic he had displayed on screen.

Thanks Brent

Definitely an intrigueing concept... Can you boil down something that takes up volumes... into a single poster? Might be possible if we all had 47 inch displays ... Ahh, the day... Cool post!

Hi Michael;

While it's true this is not a graphic you would see in a white paper, the problem with this graphic and many others is that no one will read it.

Did you actually spend the time to examine this?

I am guessing most people have not.

I would classify this graphic with a group of writing that I often talk about: Boring.

Mike

The graphic itself is kinda cool, in a way... but I sure as heck wouldn't want to look at it every day.

The graphic to which you linked is a wall poster. It's not intended to go in a white paper (or an article, or a book, or any other document). The fact that it's visually overwhelming and hard to make sense of reinforces its very point -- that the federal government is excessively complex, a bottomless pit for tax dollars.

I agree with Tom. Simplicity is the rule with graphics, something that this graphic is clearly lacking.

If you look at a graphic, and your immediate response is "Huh?", then you know it is too complex.

I have some perspectives on the issue of simplicity with concept graphics for those who might be interested:

http://www.whitepapercompany.c...

Jonathan

Hi Steve - I agree. I have a hard time understanding what the heck the illustration is about. - Mike

Yes it can,
That graphic is bi-polar...
I saw it several times before Guy posted it.
It said something, because of it's hydra like necks... and its complexity
But it at the same time, its overwhelming and boring.
At first glance you say - wow
After 30 seconds you ask - what's next?

Tom - Can you link to a great example of an image used with content? - Mike

Well hey, let's not rule out the beach image just yet. No one ever got fired for running an ad containing scantily clad people. At least I'm pretty sure.

As a photojournalist in a prior life, I'm well acquainted with the use/misuse of photographs and graphics, and how the unwise combination of the two can do some serious damage to a piece.

Complicating matters on blogs are the typicall small image sizes available, and the relatively low resolution of the images.

Like words, you'd have to guess your best route is to keep things as simple and as clear as possible. A convoluted image (or a deeply "metaphorical" one) equals a greater chance of Embarrassing Image Failure.

Hi EyeFlare;

Thanks for your response.

I fully agree that an image can tilt an article one way or the other.

In fact, I think most folks misuse images.

Mike

Of course they can distract. In fact, they can completely change the message of a text.

For example, if you illustrate an article on the plight of favela-dwellers in Rio de Janeiro with an image of sunny Copacabana beach, your message will be confused at best. If that image has plenty of scantily clad people in it as well (quite likely!) you're going to be downright distracting.

Illustrations/graphics should always be simple, on-topic and well executed.