Gallery: What Infographics Looked Like Before Computers
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*Graphic Presentation*, a book written in 1939 by graphics pioneer Willard Cope Brinton, is a window into the graphics-making boom that happened before the computer era. To better prepare people for a new era of data, Brinton outlines several techniques for creating clear graphics—like this flow chart.
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Obviously, you couldn't just whip this up in InDesign. These Cosmographs were made by hand, by layering hundreds of sheets of paper together, and the splicing off the sides to show different values.
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Another manual method for for representing geographic distribution data is the dot and pin map, where you stringing beads onto thread or onto tiny drill rods.
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This classification chart shows "the relation between aviation and 'everybody' in the United States in 1937." It shows how taxpayer dollars towards the aviation industry benefit a host of other industries as well.
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Brinton points out that graphics as a micro-industry might be an unlikely byproduct of the early 20th century wars:, because of "the feverish demand for prompt and reliable data." This chart shows the self-sufficiency of the Great Powers in 1934 based on natural resources.
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Here, an example of what Brinton calls a "100% bar chart," or a percentage chart. This one outlines all the allocations for labor costs in New York.
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Brinton goes to detailed lengths to make sure his readers have the tools necessary to make clear graphic presentations. This page even points out where certain elements of a data visualization, like reference notes and time scales, belong.
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Time is typically presented as a straight line, but that line needs to be widened for chronology charts, to shade in different values.
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Distorted maps are an infographic technique favored by today's data designers, as they help neatly explain the differences (and often, the disparities) between the way different groups of people live. This crude version of a distorted map from 1930 shows population density in the United States.
