National really have lifted their game when it comes to graphics lately. They are also sticking to a very consistent brand identity on their graphics. However they produced the following:
The only thing that grabs my attention on this is the shape. The information on it is drowned out by the distorted shape. I am not sure if this is an issue with the uploading, or if it is intentional. If it is intentional, I am not sure what the point is. I showed the graphic to a few friends to see what they thought. The only suggestion that made any possible sense was that the shape was intended to resemble a down arrow, to reinforce the idea of the unemployment rate going down. But that seems a bit of a stretch.
If the tweet had taken advantage of Twitters recent support for multiple images in a tweet, and had been skewed in the other dimension, with a second graphic next to it, to look like an open book, I could see the point. But this example just leaves me wondering what the point was, and distracts from the information in the graphic.
But I will give National points for including the source of the information, which I have called them on before.
“The information on it is drowned out by the distorted shape.”
I tend to disagree. If anything, using the perspective of a downward pointing fan enhances the information. I can’t post an image here, so have put up a “corrected” perspective on my blog as a comparison for your interest.
http://elephanza.blogspot.co.nz/2014/07/skewed-perspective.html
Re the content of the message, I would also question the skewed perspective of an election year’s budget projection being presented as “evidence.”