Cancer survival graph. Available at http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0000Jr. March 28, 2011.
The idea of information graphics is to visually explain a set of data. Linda Walsh describes a graph as a metaphor, “The line metaphor of a line graph encourages the viewer to think of the data as a continuous and changing event correlated to some factor, usually time.”1 The table-graphic above gives an idea of survival time gradients for each cancer listed, so the designers chose an appropriate format. The current diagram is full of overlapping points and crossing lines, making it visually confusing to the reader.
The diagram would be much more effective if the name of each type of cancer was also put on the right hand side, next to the 20-year relative mortality rate. This would make it easier to track the overlapping lines. Also, the lines used in the graph are the same weight as the lettering. If the lines were thinner and lighter, this visually would aid the reader in following the lines easily across the diagram. Left justifying the cancer titles on the right and left hand side would give the graph balance and unity.
1 Linda Walsh, "Handbook of Visual Communication, Chapter 5:Graphics," http://infohost.nmt.edu/~crlanier/151/151ch5.html (accessed April 27, 2011).
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