THAT IS HOT. wish i could understand the other ones...

From what I can read/Google translate, here's a quick read of a few others:

Flag #2 (Angola) :
Red - people infected with HIV
Black - people infected with Malaria
Yellow - people with access to medicine

Flag #3 (Brazil) :
Green - people who live on less than $10/mth
Yellow - people who live on less than $100/mth
Blue - people who live on less than $1000/mth
White - people who live on more than $100 000/mth

Flag #4 (Burkina) :
Red - people that die before age one
Green - people that die before age three
Yellow - people that reach adulthood

Flag #5 (China) :
Red - minors at 14 years old who work
Yellow - minors at 14 years old who study

Flag #7 (EU) :
Blue - petrol (gas) consumption
Yellow - petrol (gas) production

Flag #8 (Somalia) :
Blue - women who suffer genital mutilation
White - woman who don't suffer genital mutilation
[ I hope I'm wrong with this translation ]

-- if anyone can confirm or correct these, please do.

Are these really "infographics" ? Another word comes to mind ... "propaganda."

You can see them all at www.ihaveanidea.org
this campaign was made with real data from sites like amnistia.com and eurodat.com,
hope you all like it!
cheers
Mr. foote

So if it's propaganda we can just dismiss it then? Go about our business without a second thought that perhaps THIS might be a superb, if tragic, way to illustrate just how life is in these various countries?

Is it accurate? I question whether it is? It would be fairly compelling opinion. If they are truly trying to convey information, it would be nice to work in some percentages in the legends (In favor of the war: 47%, etc.) As an editor, the last thing I need is another incomprehensible graphic in the newspaper.

Even if it's not accurate, it still highlights the very serious state our world is in today.
THAT'S the message, not whether it's accurate or not.

Even if it's not accurate, it still highlights the very serious state our world is in today.
THAT'S the message, not whether it's accurate or not.

Sorry about the double post!

EricR - I'm portuguese and I already knew the campaign. Your translations are accurate.

Of course the proportions aren't precisely accurate (duh! who needed to ask that?), but I'm sure the issues are.

I'm not quite sure why anyone is complaining about these as 'propaganda' (which they certainly are since it's an ad campaign for a magazine, but I don't think that's what was meant). Maybe the complainant was just a crackpot, but whatever... They don't seem to be taking any strong point of view; essentially they portray a few selected world situations with an extremely broad brush.

These aren't designed to get across accurate numerical information, but to make you think. They're not really infographics in the traditional sense, more just playing with that familiar convention.

I think these are really excellent.

--sam

Propaganda.
Last time I checked the definition was 'Information, true or false, used to promote a cause or idea.'

Since when did everyone assume that propaganda = lies ?

If the proportions aren't exact, the graphics are misrepresenting issues. Sure, they make you think, by deceiving you into thinking that the issue is worth thinking about in a certain way. If the issue were real, wouldn't accurate numerical data show it?

These graphics aren't trustworthy. They don't say where this information came from. There's no real clue that there's any information behind these at all, or if some wag just decided to make a cute statement. They paint data as being mutually exclusive when it's not. For example, on the US flag, insinuating that someone who didn't know where Iraq was didn't have an opinion on the war in Iraq, for or against.

There's no reason to laud dishonest graphics. Take a look at Edward Tufte's work for graphics which are just as "though-provoking" but also unfailingly honest.

It's a campaign to highlight the issues, it has nothing to do with REAL data and it's not telling you anything you didn't already kind of know, it's just a way of bringing it back the the front of your mind.

Each of them represents a sorry state of affairs that we lucky enough to be born in luckier countries tend to turn a blind eye to.

Bigshout, not sure what dictionary you looked in but the definition is

"chiefly derogatory information, esp. of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view".

"If the proportions aren't exact, the graphics are misrepresenting issues. Sure, they make you think, by deceiving you into thinking that the issue is worth thinking about in a certain way."

So you'd rather not think about the AIDS epidemic, the genital mutation (which is actually occuring), and the drug exportation? You'd rather turn a blind eye and pretent that those things dont exist?

The purpose of these flag is to show how horribly skewed some things are in countries. Like in the United States; a lot of people don't even know where Iraq is, yet we're fighting a war in it. The Brazil flag portrays the poverty of the country.

I absolutely loved this. It made me think. And just to let everyone know, everyone uses "propaganda" in their lives at some point.

Taken Straight from www.m-w.com (merriam-webster):
"Main Entry: pro·pa·gan·da
Pronunciation: "prä-p&-'gan-d&, "prO-
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin, from Congregatio de propaganda fide Congregation for propagating the faith, organization established by Pope Gregory XV died 1623
1 capitalized : a congregation of the Roman curia having jurisdiction over missionary territories and related institutions
2 : the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person
3 : ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause; also : a public action having such an effect"

Perhaps thinking of them as "editorial graphics" would help people get the message without the critisism over the format. For example "editorial cartoons" highlight real issues with exagerated messages to get the point.