Can information be beautiful when information doesn’t exist? by Kaiser Fung.
From the post:
Reader Steve S. sent in this article that displays nominations for the “Information is Beautiful” award (link). I see “beauty” in many of these charts but no “information”. Several of these charts have appeared on our blog before.
Kaiser comments on a number of the graphics that I pointed to in: Information is Beautiful Awards – The Results Are In!
Kaiser is far better qualified than I am to comment on the suitability of the graphics chosen.
I am less confident in his ability to judge the information contained by a graphic.
The information content of a graphic, like its semantics, doesn’t exist separate and apart from the reader/viewer.
If you think it does, do you have an example of information or semantics in the absence of a reader/viewer?
Do read Kaiser’s comments to get a different take on some of the graphics.