It's not new knowledge that in today's communication that less is more. With attention spans getting shorter, and more information being crammed into lesser time to ingest them, it's important that the reader/viewer get the message within the second. But now, on top of keeping it short and sweet, it has to be pretty too.
Advertisements and music videos have been doing it all the while, keeping it 'nice-looking' in one column or 3 minutes air time. Now, the 'world of data' is following suit. Data visualisation is popular now in the online world. Some examples of how it is done:
Images from Visual.ly
As Visual.ly says it, data visualisation is meant to "communicate complex ideas in a clear, compact and beautiful way". If factual brochures, portfolios and annual reports adopt this method of communicating their content, maybe they won't be cast aside gathering dust as often as they really are.
It's a common problem in ad agencies - writers think only words and message, designers only think design and visuals. Sometimes the two separate ideas don't work together hence the function of the account executive to find a happy balance between the two. With data visualisation, the complication is augmented. A graphic designer can no longer aim to just have a beautiful artwork, but the design now has a bigger function to support the information, taking on more meaning. Writers must be able to sum up chunks of information that is translatable visually. A person/agency who can become a blend of both would be highly sought after (a writer who can think visually or a designer who can process content). I hope Wit & Words will be one of them!
Update (20 July 2011): Thanks to Shiren, a fellow marketeer, who shared another site with similar concept called Information is Beautiful
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