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Quick answers
When should I pick Infographic blocks?
When the story is: dashboards, posters, one-pagers, exhibit boards.
When should I avoid Infographic blocks?
Skip it in cases like: the tiles hide that the numbers are not comparable.
Who invented or popularised it?
Isotype (Neurath, 1920s–30s) plus postwar magazine grids
What does it encode?
modular rectangles whose size and order rank importance
Is it OK in ads?
Yes if one claim is visible at a glance in Meta, Google and retail print; otherwise link to a full figure.
Will a teacher accept it?
Yes for lab reports and poster boards if axes, units and a source line are present.
Infographic blocks encodes values as modular rectangles whose size and order rank importance. Isotype (Neurath, 1920s–30s) plus postwar magazine grids.
In reports, ads and assignments it fits dashboards, posters, one-pagers, exhibit boards. Skip it when the tiles hide that the numbers are not comparable.
Mistakes
- Failure modes 1 — the tiles hide that the numbers are not comparable
- Failure modes 2 — 3-D pies and perspective bars
- Failure modes 3 — Dual axes that fake a correlation
- Failure modes 4 — Truncated axes that shout a small delta
- Failure modes 5 — Legend only, no direct labels
- Failure modes 6 — Missing source, unit or period
Fixes
- Fixes 1 — Return to dashboards, posters, one-pagers, exhibit boards.
- Fixes 2 — Flat, one axis, direct labels.
- Fixes 3 — Color-blind-safe palette plus pattern.
- Fixes 4 — Rewrite the title as a claim and add a source line.
Infographic blocks: honour modular rectangles whose size and order rank importance, and switch when the tiles hide that the numbers are not comparable.