Out of the Box

The first part of this blog series on infographics presented historically relevant infographics in the context of health, pandemic spread and mortality. The second part deals with three current examples that don’t want to be infographics – but share their intention: the visual preparation, presentation and communication of complex information.

In April 2020, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung commissioned four NZZ photographers to document the extraordinary current situation and take a personal look at the crisis. Four series of pictures were taken from four different perspectives. The photographer Simon Tanner collected self-portraits of caregivers who have published them on various social media channels since the Corona crisis. The photo series shows the traces of the nursing staff’s work in an authentic and impressive way.

The illustrative relationship of these “visualizations” is, so to speak, an indexical one: the direct consequences of the crisis operation can be seen in the traces of the protective masks and the exhausted faces of the nursing staff.

Simon Tanner: Die Corona-Krise in Bildern, NZZ, 2020

“Keep your distance” is an important rule of conduct and hygiene that can protect against a virus infection. Juan Delcan (art director from Los Angeles) addresses social distancing with his video, using the metaphor of a wildfires. An otherwise complex factual context is broken down here to a simple visual argument. Since this video was often shared on different channels, the great interest – and obviously also the benefit – of this form of visualization shows.

Juan Delcan: Safety Match on Vimeo, 2020

With (temporarily) modified logos, many well-known brands also want to make a concise statement. They point out how important it is in times of the Corona pandemic to keep a distance to your fellow men. The so-called social distancing is visually transformed into the logos, so to speak.

Whether the companies make a statement about the fight against the corona virus or use the crisis to present themselves is up to the customers themselves … In any case, the new arrangement of a well-known sign, which at first glance is astonishing, visualises the meaning of social distancing very directly.

Social Distancing – Companies update their logos (Auswahl VW, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Audi)

In the next blog post we will talk to Hendrik Lehmann from the Berlin Tagesspiegel and explain how the “Tagesspiegel Innovation Lab” works and lives data-driven journalism.

Home