I posted this today on Tumblr at infovis658:
This infographic is from Fast Company’s fastcocreate.com website and means to describe what each country on the planet leads the world in. At first glance the labels resemble a tag cloud in its informal font style, curved placement and color scheme. The dangling participle in the title also lends formality and conversational whimsy to the graphic, leading one to expect humor rather than a serious analysis.
Antarctica may in fact lead the world in emperor penguins, but it is clearly not meant to be a statement of economic or political leadership. Also, with no underlying data presented, we are left to take the infovizzers word for the results displayed. While some of the statements are interesting, such as Australia leading the world in melanoma, which could be related to its proximity to the widening ozone hole, there doesn’t appear to be any connection between each country and the item or items in which they lead. Or is there? The US leads in nobel laureates and lawnmower deaths. Could it be a statement on the distribution of lauded intellectuals versus Darwin awardees? But then, over in Russia, what do raspberries and nuclear warheads have in common? Perhaps a thumbing of the nose to external powers? Clearly, most of the items are not meant to be taken seriously. It is humorous and fun to explore. And I am sure it sparks a lot of interesting conversations.