I think that Minard’s map mostly deserves the hype. Its strengths lie in its simplicity; its visual representation of data is quite elegant. The decreasing width of the line is devastating in its succinctness. Also, it shows a route spatially, which is quite nice. It’s surprising that the route didn’t overlap on the return journey, but maybe I missed something.
Personally, I think the map would be more compelling if it had a more interesting color scheme, but perhaps the colors Minard chose are more appropriate for the tone of the information displayed. I would have chosen serious but bolder colors, maybe the colors of the French flag. I also think that the map would be more accessible if the font of the writing were print instead of the cursive Minard chose.
Lin’s lecture was very helpful. I will now use color schemes more intentionally, and I will make sure to make visual representations the the emphasis, and not use too much text. But one question I was left with is what is a stylistic choice which tells your narrative and what is a misrepresentation of the data? Is attempting to tell a story with data problematic in and of itself? For example, when she showed the Fox News chart, I could see that it was deceptive, but isn’t any information which seeks to tell a story somewhat deceptive? Shouldn’t the goal be to translate the results as transparently as possible with the least amount of bias possible? But I suppose bias is inherent in any project–the topic you choose to explore demonstrates a bias in your interests.
