Oscar Keeper

I had no idea in 2001 that I would have a blog now, but for some reason, I knew to save Nigel Holmes's In Style Oscar infographic for the last 12 years.

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Infographics Contest: Land a Jumbo Jet with Nigel Holmes

The folks at Lonely Planet are publishing ‘How to Land a Jumbo Jet,’ which they describe as a “visual guide to the world - a collection of cultural and travel-inspired infographics and visualisations of all kinds.”

And they want you to be in it. They are asking for submissions of ideas for visualizations from which they will commission content for the book.

Okay, there are plenty of infographics “contests” out there which are usually nothing more than clever, but thinly disguised attempts at getting free content from eager, creative, workaholics. But this is the real deal. The selected work will not end up on a web gallery, but printed on a full spread in a published book.

You will be paid for material to be published, and directed through the development and production of the graphic by infographics guru, Nigel Holmes. Getting paid to have Nigel work with you—I don’t think you can do any better than that.

Here's what they're looking for:

We want infographics that illuminate, entertain and inform. We want them to be great examples of information design, and we want the information in them to be true and for them to have a good degree of integrity. That doesn't mean they can't be light-hearted though!

They don't need to be about travel per se, they just need to provide an insight into the world from the perspective of a traveller. So it's not just a case of planes, trains & automobiles ... (Though it could be!)

How to submit an entry:

If you have an idea that you think would make a great infographic or visualisation for our book, read this section on submitting an idea, then simply email us with your submission.

Your idea doesn't haven't to be complete - sketches, mock-ups or even a written pitch for your concept are fine, just make sure you've read the project terms.

Start thinking!

Not sure what to create your graphic about?
-Visualise cultural faux pas for a particular country
-Show classic souvenirs from around the world
-Compare the popularity of chilli in a local cuisine with the happiness index of that culture.
-How about a world map featuring hotspots of tourism activity at Christmas time
Check out this infographic from David McCandless on reducing your odds of dying in a plane crash.

Stay tuned, my next post will be some visual inspiration for all info-jetsetters ...

Good Luck!

What Does One Million Look Like?

So, you know the 2000 years that happened before the current millennium began? Well if you go back those 2 millennia, and then do that 499 more times, you’ll get to the year this Raquel Welch classic takes place.

Designers of information graphics often find themselves in the position of explaining large numbers. At the recent Society of News Design conference in Buenos Aires, I had the magnitude of numbers like million, billion and trillion conveyed to me by no less than three different infographics gurus. Nigel Holmes of Explanation Graphics was the keynote speaker and is the undisputed master of explaining magnitudes of time, space, and dollars. To check out his short animation from 2000 explaining the then $5.7 trillion national debt, go here and click on the first clip.


Keep in mind that $5.7 trillion is barely half of the $11.9 trillion outstanding today. So watch it twice. Then watch the others for more great explanations.



Later that week, I found this Argentine banknote at the San Telmo market. I recognized it immediately--I knew what one million looked like. But not so fast. You see, It was issued between 1981-1983 during Argentina’s hyperinflation days. it’s out of circulation now, and has nothing to do with the 20 pesos (roughly $5) I paid for it. In fact, it didn’t even have much to do with itself over the 13-year period that particular peso-unit was in use. When Argentina introduced a new monetary unit in 1983, The New York Times put it this way: “In 1970 a new, four-door automobile cost 20,000 pesos. Today, 20,000 old pesos would purchase two sticks of chewing gum; the new car costs 993 million.” Yikes, now that’s inflation.

So, I might know what one million looks like, but what it means? Well let's just say that it all depends.