Political Chart Wars: Health-Care Reform Obfuscated by Infographics
Recently, Rep. John Boehner, an American politician of the Republican Party who is currently serving as the House Minority Leader in Congress, released an information chart illustrating the organization of the House Democrats’ health plan. As some insist, the problem with this chart is that it seems to have been optimized by Republicans to support their contention that this bill is overly complicated and a bureaucratic nightmare. The chart itself [washingtonpost.com] has touched some nerves, in particular in the field of infographic design, evidenced by a redesigned version and a quite emotional accompanying letter, titled “Do not fuck with graphic designers” [flickr.com].
Or put in other words: “By releasing your chart, instead of meaningfully educating the public, you willfully obfuscated an already complicated proposal. … So, to try and do my duty both to the country and to information design (a profession and skill you have loudly shat upon), I have taken it upon myself to untangle your delightful chart.”
Even better, it seems this is not the only design-insensitive chart Boehner’s office produced, as the “Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax” chart clearly proves. In any case, an interesting read.
Thnkx Christine and Alistair.
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