xBlog: The visual thinking weblog » Journalism

New project: The Carbon Economy

Bill — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:16:06 +0000

For the second time in recent months XPLANE has partnered with The Economist to create a compelling video on a topic of global importance. After working together on “Did You Know? 4.0”, The Economist enlisted XPLANE’s visual communication expertise to develop “The Carbon Economy” about the growing importance of climate change and green technologies and solutions.

“The Carbon Economy” will be shown at The Economist’s upcoming Carbon Economy Summit on November 17 and 18, 2009 in Washington, D.C. The video is three minutes in length and includes simple visuals and a moving soundtrack to clearly convey the troubled state of global climate change and what steps must be taken to reach a positive outcome. The production was created using Apple’s Keynote software.

For more information on The Carbon Economy Summit, visit http://carboneconomy.economist.com.

Did You Know 4.0

Bill — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:41:06 +0000

XPLANE is happy to present Did You Know 4.0 — another official update to the original “Shift Happens” video. This completely new Fall 2009 version includes facts and stats focusing on the changing media landscape, including convergence and technology, and was developed in partnership with The Economist.

As Garr Reynolds mentions over at Presentation Zen this morning, yes, this project was created with “off-the-shelf slideware” (Keynote and GarageBand, actually, along with Photoshop and Illustrator). Content by XPLANE, The Economist, Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod and Laura Bestler. Design and development by XPLANE.

For more information, or to join the conversation, please visit The Economist’s Media Convergence conference site at mediaconvergence.economist.com, or stop by shifthappens.wikispaces.com for all things Did You Know.

“GOOD” Design

Bill — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 11:49:22 +0000

Behind the scenes of GOOD Magazine’s infographics.

We always found that there’s info lurking behind everything in the world,” says Morgan Clendaniel, deputy editor at GOOD Magazine. “You’ll read an article, but you won’t see the data behind it — nor would you want to. Nobody wants to read an Excel file.”

Clendaniel and I are discussing GOOD’s Transparency section — a regular print and online feature of standalone infographics. The general interest magazine best known for its social consciousness has published infographics on a number of topics, some serious (fuel efficiency between modes of transportation, a map of international legislation on death penalty), others more playful (relative trophy sizes, museum ticket prices).

“The goal is to illustrate these issues in a way that is entertaining, accessible, but also informative,” Clendaniel says.

(Thanks @swissmiss!)

GOOD Transparencies Archive

Bill — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:41:27 +0000

The official GOOD Magazine infographics archive on Flickr:

GOOD is an editorially-led, member-driven community that provides content and experiences that blend entertainment and relevance. Out portfolio includes GOOD Magazine and www.GOOD.is, updated daily with fresh editorial and short-form video features. Launched in 2006, we have received numerous awards for our aesthetic and unique voice that reflects the cultural shift among consumers who want to move the world forward and enjoy themselves while doing so.

Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable

Bill — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:42:02 +0000

“Print media does much of society’s heavy journalistic lifting, from flooding the zone — covering every angle of a huge story — to the daily grind of attending the City Council meeting, just in case. This coverage creates benefits even for people who aren’t newspaper readers, because the work of print journalists is used by everyone from politicians to district attorneys to talk radio hosts to bloggers. The newspaper people often note that newspapers benefit society as a whole. This is true, but irrelevant to the problem at hand; “You’re gonna miss us when we’re gone!” has never been much of a business model. So who covers all that news if some significant fraction of the currently employed newspaper people lose their jobs?”

We Have A Winner! (This American Life t-shirt contest)

Bill — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:20:16 +0000

Former XPLANER Brian Kaas is the big winner in the TAL t-shirt contest. Yay Brian!

A big thanks to the hundreds and hundreds of people who entered our recent T-Shirt design contest! We were incredibly impressed by the designs.

And the winner is… Brian Kaas of San Francisco, CA! His very elegant radio design seemed perfect for the next TAL pledge drive thank you gift.

10 Ways Newspapers Can Improve Comments

Bill — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:37:22 +0000

“The other day Bob Garfield had a good kvetch about dumb comments on newspaper websites on his show, On The Media, and I posted my two cents, but I still don’t feel better. I think that’s because Bob’s partly right: comments do suck sometimes.

So, instead of just poking him for sounding like Grandpa Simpson, I’d like to help fix the problem. Here are ten things newspapers could do, right now, to improve the quality of the comments on their sites. (There are lots more, but you know how newspaper editors can’t resist a top ten list.)”

How a page gets created

Bill — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:16:47 +0000

“Matt Willey recently recorded his decision-making on a feature design for the Royal Academy magazine. It provides a very useful insight into how page designs get arrived at, one that anyone who’s ever designed a magazine will recognize.”

Gene Weingarten – Yanks Thump Sox

Bill — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:16:52 +0000

“If you are like I, you are pretty sick of reading articles about how the financially-troubled newspaper industry is making desperation budget cutting moves: Downsizing its products, laying off staff, buying prostitutes for advertisers, and so forth. But believe me, you’d be even sicker of it if you were INSIDE a typical American newsroom these days, where it’s sometimes hard to hear over the 200 decibel background drone of human whining.

One frequent newsroom complaint is that they are cutting back drastically in the use of copyeditors. It’s true, but I for one am not complaining. I say good riddance.”

García Media | Blog

Bill — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:21:23 +0000

Famed newspaper (re)designer Mario García launched a blog last month: “A blog about storytelling, design, the projects we work on, the things we learn along the way.”