To be fair to Ms. Dono M. Wong the first two causes of my disappointment with The Wall Street Journal Guide to Information graphics are on me. It is a short book. How many of us check the page count on prospective book buys. The 160 pages are slightly less information dense than they could be because space is used in a way more like an information graphic and less like a text. The second problem I lay on my head is that a fair slice of the Guide focuses on reporting Wall Street as in stocks, money and other related Wall Street centric issues. Com’on it says Wall Street in the title. So I take my rap even as I stick the book with an ok rating.
For me the first 1/3 of the book was very helpful and will remain so as a ready reference. The best use of the book is to scan it for concepts and refer back as part of designing and checking your work. A second part of the book is so important I will have to find a way to share it at work; is the section that speaks to color choices that work best with the color blind. Such as My captain and other senior members of Department leadership.
Ultimately this book is meaty, but there needs to be more. The section on maps is particularly thin, Ms Wong may not feel that she has enough specialized knowledge of the field of cartography, but if you are publishing under the name Wall Street Journal; there should be more human assets available. I get the finance industry emphasis but if nothing else the book makes the cases for other sections, or a series that speak to other major consumers of information graphics.
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