Redesigning Charles Joseph Minard's Information Graphic
Introduction
Charles Joseph Minard's historical map of the Napoleon Russian Campaign, is considered one of the most famous graphics for its powerful storytelling narrative. It illustrates the march of Napoleon's troops through freezing temperatures, highlighting the losses that occurred during the movement. The graphic displays multiple sets of data including; geography (cities and rivers), the troops path and direction, the number of survivors, temperature readings as well as their corresponding dates. My goal in this project is to redesign Minard's Russian Campaign graphic using modern contemporary methods to improve the storytelling aspect while focusing on the human element behind the data.
Figure 1 Minard’s Russian Campaign Graphic
Visualization Storytelling Methods
Iteration 1: Hand-Drawn Sketch
For my first iteration, shown in figure 2, I hand-drew a sketch of Minard’s graphic on a piece of paper, to demonstrate my understanding of its main idea as well as the key elements involved. By hand drawing the map, I was able to analyze how the different sets of data (including geography, troop numbers, direction and temperature) involved are layered as well as better understand the flow of the troops' path in regards to line width and city positions.
Figure 2 Iteration 1 Hand-Drawn Sketch
Iteration 2: Interactive Line Graph Visualization
For my second iteration, I redesigned Minard’s graphic using python to create a line graph with the purpose of improving clarity and understanding. This redesign includes the main datasets; number of advance and retreat survivors, temperature (℃) variation, longitude as well as the respective dates representing the campaign’s timeline of events. It can be observed in the graph that the advancing group is represented with a blue color (progress) and the retreating group with a red color (loss), while the drop in temperature is shown with a dashed grey line. To enhance and incorporate user interaction, I have used hover features that display detailed information such as longitude, temperature, date, city and the number of survivors. The hover colors are respective to the colors of the lines but slightly transparent to ensure visibility and readability.
Although the redesign seems technical, the data points present represent lives and experiences of the troops. The use of different colors help demonstrate the emotional aspect of the visualization, such that the audience is able to interact directly with the statistical data and connect it to distinct points in time.
Figure 3.1 Interactive Line Graph Visualization
Figure 3.2 Hovering Over The Advancing Survivors Path
Figure 3.3 Hovering Over The Retreating Survivors Path
Figure 3.4 Hovering Over The Temperature Records
Iteration 3: Geographic Visualization Of The Journey
For my third iteration, I have decided to redesign the graphic using the “scattergeo” feature in python to visually represent Napoleon's troop across the multiple cities, enhancing the storytelling narrative. The cities are marked with a dot, while the troop’s path is represented using different colors; orange for the advancing group and grey for the retreating ones. It can be seen that the width of the lines represent the number of survivors such that it decreases as the number of survivors decline. Moreover, the temperature scale is added to reflect the conditions the army experienced during the campaign.
By using a geographic map, a temperature scale as well as hover features, the audience is able to sympathize with the army as well as walk the route alongside them, understanding the hardships and challenges. In addition, it enables the audience to not only view the data but also feel the human struggle behind it.
Figure 4.1 Geographic Visualization Of The Journey
Figure 4.2 Hovering Over The Army Path
Conclusion
In conclusion, redesigning a historic graphic using interactive contemporary methods, allowed me to better understand both the meaning as well as the presence of the human element behind Minard’s graphic. From a hand-drawn sketch to a line graph to a geographic map, I was hopefully able to create a more interactive and easy to follow graphic.