Bloomport U

When I had a small business back in California, I used to spend countless hours working on a single poster/flyer to make sure every element of the document was, well perfect.  The exact right font, perfect spacing, the right colors, boarders that made the text pop and graphics that embodied the message as well as the emotion, it all had to fit together seamlessly.  Overboard in other words.

Call me thick, but it was only in the past two or three years that I really came to understand why I spent so much time working those materials.  I did it because somehow I knew that the visualization of the message was one trillion times more important than what could be written or explained; the reader needed to be able to glance at the message, become intrigued (within the first half second) and then “get it” in about three more seconds.  The more important he message, the more that every little font, frame, color, graphic needs to make the message pop.  Perhaps not overboard?

I am always looking for creative ways to get the message out (the creative side of my strategic brain) and last weekend I came across a visual I thought was magnificent.  Think for a moment, can you visualize a trillion dollars?  This document from http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/the-billion-dollar-gram/  is presents a way to help you visualize how much a trillion is and underscores the importance of data presentation.  In my mind, there is no way you can effectively describe all of the information that is contained in this little document, but through a simple visualization your brain quickly connect the shapes and colors in a way that first intrigues you, and then just makes sense.  Brilliance through simplicity.