Match Style to Story

• Every graphic must have a purpose--beyond covering a black hole--so before you design a graphic make sure you fully understand the story. (This means you have to do the math when working with statistics.)
  
  
• A graphic designed to convey basic facts should be simple and clear.
  
  
• To illustrate that fact that the air is unhealthy in some parts of your viewing area, you might want to use a map. But make sure you show a "locator" on the map-a main city or highway, for example-so viewers immediately know what they are looking at.
  
  
• A graphic designed to illustrate change or a process often benefits from animation.

Simplify and Connect

• Avoid cramming graphics with too much information. Think of a graphic like a highway sign-it goes by so fast, the driver doesn't get a chance to study it. The information has to be easily absorbed. Ask: what is the one thing I want viewers to understand when they see this graphic? Make sure they can get it at a glance.
  
  
• Show relationships rather than raw information. Instead of listing the number of drivers versus mass transit users, create a chart that shows the relationship between the two. And compare rates, not raw numbers, whenever possible.
  
  
• In stories comparing, say, two candidates' positions on an issue, put both on the same graphic screen so viewers can clearly see how they match up.
  
  
• A graphic can serve as a roadblock in a story if it comes up without warning. Lead the viewer in and out of the graphic by what you say in your track. Make a clear transition from the moving video to the fact-based graphic. "As city budget records show…." "You can see how the budget has grown…"
  

• If you have words in your graphics, be sure that the track (what you say) matches exactly. Write before the graphic is created, but revise if necessary before tracking so audio and video match.

Use Visual Cues to Reinforce Meaning

• Choose a visual element that fits the theme of your story. Instead of a plain bar chart showing how the budget has increased, for example, make each bar from a stack of dollar bills. Or create a money bag, and make it grow to a proportionally larger size. Create "base art" that also reinforces meaning, and superimpose information.
  
  
• Graphics that build or disappear help to illustrate change over time. Be sure that you match the rate of growth on screen to the actual rate of growth. Too much movement, however, can be distracting to viewers and counter productive. Avoid movement just for the sake of movement.
  
  
• If you put words on the screen, the viewer will want to read them. Be sure the font is large enough and the graphic stays up long enough to be read.