9. This project is made possible in part by a grant from the
Minnesota State Arts Board, through an appropriation
by the Minnesota State Legislature and a grant from the
National Endowment for the Arts.
26. Tips for Telling Visual Stories:
• Layer information
• Present positively
• Make it personal (bring it close to home)
• Let consumers make their own decisions
• Enable interaction
• Provide access to supporting data (online)
27. Balance: how much to show
“Sometimes the detail makes it interesting:
sometimes detail clouds the essence”
-Amanda Cox
graphics editor, New York Times
28. Process:
1. Identify audience and set purpose
2. Research information and data options
3. Ideate: Sketch out the storyline
4. Input data, statistics, people’s stories etc.
5. Develop, test and refine and test and
refine...
34. Exercise: A Product’s Life Story
Your own product:
• Focus on one audience for your product
• Write (or draw) a narrative through the life of this
product
• What other sustainability-related data/statistics/
information exists for this product?
• How can this fit into the storyline?
• Are their other ways to visualize that would
better communicate this information?
36. Other Examples of Back-Stories:
Consumers can SEE their own impacts.
Smart Meters
37. Other Examples of Back-Stories:
Consumers can EXPERIENCE their own impacts.
www.thetoasterproject.org
38. Other Examples of Back-Stories:
Consumers can CONNECT to their own impacts.
image: The New York Times
39. Other Examples of Back-Stories:
Consumers can UNDERSTAND their own impacts.
New Leaf Paper Eco Audit
40. Other Examples of Back-Stories:
Consumers can ACT UPON their own impacts.
Prius Hybrid Display Panel
41. When Social & Environmental
Back-Stories are Made Visible...
Consumers can:
SEE • EXPERIENCE • CONNECT • UNDERSTAND • ACT UPON
their own impacts.
42. Additional Resources:
RESOURCES:
Visual Storytelling for Sustainability
INFO DESIGN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
‘Guru’ of information design: Edward Tufte (author of multiple books)
Learning to draw stories: The Back of the Napkin (Expanded Edition):
Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures by Dan Roam
Guidelines for best-practice info-design: The Wall Street Journal Guide
to Information Graphics: The Dos and Don’ts of Presenting Data, Facts,
and Figures by Dona M. Wong
Inspiration for Data Vis: www.infosthetics.com
SUSTAINABILITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Product supply Chains & Carbon Footprints: www.Sourcemap.com
Basic LCA (Life Cycle Analysis) Tool: www.sustainableminds.com
Guide for behavior-changing sustainability campaigns: Fostering
Sustainable Behavior: An Introduction to Community-Based Social
Marketing by Doug McKenzie-Mohr
Systems-Thinking: Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make
Things by Michael Braungart