Randy Krum's Blog, page 18

2017 Shipping Deadlines

Tis the season for shipping! The 2017 Shipping Deadlines infographic from Ship Station will help you get your last minute presents to their destination on time!

Holiday shopping season is approaching, so get your team ready — because shipping is coming. As an online merchant, you need to know the holiday shipping deadlines for carriers and services to get your packages delivered by Christmas weekend. Knowing these cut-off dates will help you set accurate shipping costs, offer available services, instill trust in your online customers, and help them shop on time!

My only hesitation with this design, is it's similarity to Gantt chart. The highlighted periods are all of the acceptable shipping dates, but visually it seems to imply the shipping duration of the different services.

Thanks to Margie for sending in the link!

Why Do Businesses Fail?

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Starting your own business can be rewarding, but there are a lot of challenges. Why Do Businesses Fail? infographic from Insurance Quotes and NowSourcing outlines some of the biggest problems, paired with solutions.

Small businesses often have a hard time making it work. Just how hard of a time may surprise you. Did you know that 20 percent of businesses fail in the first year, while 70 percent fail by year 10? The biggest contributing factor may seem obvious — cash flow problems.

Despite all these challenges to starting and maintaining your own business, the payoff can make it worthwhile. Here at insuranceQuotes we want to help you navigate the challenges of starting a small business and understand the pitfalls that lay ahead. Here are some facts and strategies that can put you on the path to success.

Information is key for small businesses to survive and thrive. Keep in mind that having the proper business insurance can help you keep a mishap from becoming a disaster, whether you are just starting out in a new business or have been around for years.

Let us know your thoughts on the information we provided and please share any personal business stories that may help other entrepreneurs on our Facebook page. Your successes or failures could help others.

Big Fonts are not Data Visualziations!

There's a lot of great data included in this infographic, but there's too much text in this design and a number of the statistics could have been visualized better. Way too many statistics are shown as just large text numbers without any visualization or context.

There are a number of things wrong with this particular chart. The bar lengths don't match the data values. The bars for 220,000 and 205,000 should be very close, and they're not. Here I've added corrected bars to each cluster using the existing bar length for the New Businesses bar as the base.

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Maybe this is a non-zero baseline chart? If so, this is intentionally misleading to readers by showing the scale.

Found on Entrepreneur

Cool Infographics Book Giveaway December 2017

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During December 2017, I am giving away one signed copy of my book Cool Infographics! 

Register on the Giveaways Page by December 15, 2017 to be entered.

I posted this on the Giveaways page in November but forgot to mention it here, so I'm extending the registration deadline until December 15th.

You can always download a free chapter from the Book page to get a sample from the 1st chapter, The Science of Infographics.

A cool infographic tells a story visually —an engaging story built with your data. More than just using pictures or colorful charts, infographics create the type of visual information that your audience will quickly grasp and remember.  Inside, the fundamentals of infographics are clearly explained for both novices and experienced professionals.

Divergent Realities: The Difference Between 'VR' and 'AR'

If you have a business idea that uses either virtual reality or augmented reality, now is the time to look for investors. By 2021 both technologies are expected to be a $108 billion market.

Divergent Realities: The Difference Between 'VR' and 'AR' was designed for Lumus Vision (a company that designs wearable technology) by Now Sourcing and attempts to outline the key differences that set VR apart from its AR counterpart. It also breaks down some of the most popular hardware and software options, the inner workings of both technologies and the ridiculous amount of money they are expected to generate over the coming years.

This article was originally posted in Inc. Magazine, June 8, 2017 by John White. 

Virtual reality has been around for decades - Nintendo's Virtual Boy anyone? But today's smartphones are being offered with VR capabilities, leaving developers scrambling to find new and innovative ways to make use of this hot technology that everyone with a smartphone has access to. Today The Discovery Channel produces Shark Week content with virtual reality users in mind, leaving many folks wondering where this technology is going.

Virtual Reality Is Hot Now, But It Is Being Replaced With Augmented Reality

Augmented reality combines the visual aspects of virtual reality with other sensory cues, such as haptic feedback and binaural audio. By 2021 both technologies are expected to be a $108 billion market, with augmented reality alone clocking in at $83 billion. In 2016 the development of augmented reality gear cost over $2.3 billion.

Even Apple is getting in on the augmented reality development boom - they recently released their own AR development kit that will make integrating AR content into existing technology easier. According to a CNBC report, "Virtual and augmented reality product company Marxent has been developing AR apps for Apple products for six years. The company's CEO and co-founder, Beck Besecker, called the announcement a "game changer" because it will help to embed the tech into everyday life.

"(This) could theoretically add a 4th dimension to how we experience the world. Once Apple starts integrating AR into the most popular apps, like email, texting, photos, maps, and music, it will bring AR into our lives in a deep and meaningful way on a daily basis." he told CNBC in an email comment.

First, I'm not a fan of the color scheme. The contrasting colors are harsh and actually detract from the credibility of the design.

Side-by-side comparison infographics are very common and this is a perfect use of one comparing these two very similar technologies.

Found on Lifehacker.com

These 5 Giant Companies Control the World's Beer

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These 5 Giant Companies Control the World's Beer infographic created by Visual Capitalist illustrates the "illusion of choice" idea. Even if a bar has 50 beers on tap, those beers and their breweries are owned by another bigger company, and there are only 5 of them! 

The next time you hit your local pub, the odds are that the pint of beer you order will come from one of five global beer conglomerates.

Together, they own hundreds of the best-known domestic, import, and craft beer brands all over the world, in pretty much any country you can name. Whether you are seeking a smooth pilsner, a creamy stout, or an old-fashioned ale to whet your whistle, this multi-national beer oligopoly has got you covered.

THE BIG FIVE

Until recently, there were actually six big conglomerates: AB InBev, SAB Miller, MolsonCoors, Heineken, Diageo, and Carlsberg. 

However, in mere weeks that will no longer be true. The world’s two largest beer companies – AB InBev and SAB Miller – are merging into one massive megabrewer. The deal, which is worth a hefty $107 billion, is expected to close by October 2016.

When it is all said and done, the merged company will have a brand portfolio that will be the envy of the industry: Budweiser, Corona, Stella Artois, Hoegaarden, Pilsner Urquell, Foster’s, Shock Top, Elysian, and Beck’s are just some of the flagship brands involved. 

That will be after likely divesting several key brands such as Blue Moon and the entire Miller line of beers to appease antitrust regulators.

THE ILLUSION OF CHOICE

As we said previously when we posted the infographic showing the illusion of choice in consumer brands, we believe it is important for you to be aware of who is supplying the different brands and goods served at your dinner table.

Each dollar you spend is a vote – make sure it goes to a product and company that you believe in.

This type of design is commonly called a "Landscape", in this case it's the Landscape of Beer Companies. They are good for showing groupings of companies, products or brands, but I'm generally not a fan because they can become too complex. This one does a good job keeping the content simple and delivering a clear message that readers can easily understand.

Found on Dailyinfographic.com.

Best British Isles Film & TV Locations you can Actually Visit

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Having the opportunity to visit a set of one of your favorite films, would be a really special opportunity. Well Direct Holiday Cottages has put together a list of real life places in the British Isles that were used in popular films that you could go visit. The Best British Isles Film & TV Locations you can Actually Visit infogaphic packages a real life photo with one from the film so that the viewer can recognize what scene the site is from. Next time you are planning a trip to the British Isles, swing by one of your favorite movie's sets!

Here is an isnspirational visual guide that we have created providing information about British Isles film and TV locations that you can vist. Check out cool locations from Downtown Abbey, Harry Potter, Da Vinci Code and plenty more by viewing this piece.

Thanks to David for sending in the link!

How Brands Are Using Instagram Stories

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Klear analyzed 149 brands in 8 different industries to see How Brands Are Using Instagram Stories to drive sales.

Just last year, brands faced a big issue on Instagram: sharing external links with followers. Can you recall posting about a new blog post on your account and having to direct followers to your bio to click the link? No one cared to take the time to go to your account and check out the content. This wasn’t a convincing nor effective method and the low rate of user responsiveness made this a big loss of interest for marketers.

Although just a few months after the birth of Instagram Stories, came their golden solution to every marketers’ problem.

Instagram introduced a “swipe up” feature, allowing brands to link a URL to their story, creating a “see more” option below the post. Then if users wished to see further content, it was only a swipe away, thus creating greater user compliance. The linking component is only available for verified accounts. For the marketers who can use it, it’s a dream.

We were already aware of the popularity surrounding Instagram Stories, but we wanted to see how brands are utilizing this newer feature. We decided to follow 149 top brands in 8 industries – including Amazon, Adidas, JetBlue, and Coca-Cola – to see what do they share on their stories and where they guide their followers to.

Read more at Klear.com

I like the data, and the clear sequence of sections. The thin doughnut chart is really hard to read and connect the colors to the legend. The stacked bar chart at the end is very busy and hard to read as well.

Found on Marketingprofs.com

A Brief History of Printing

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The Brief History of Printing infographic by Diginate looks back on over 2000 years of the industry. 

There aren't too many industries older than printing (!) - the origins go back to woodblock printing in 200AD!

To try and understand the route that the art of printing has taken through to today's digital formats we thought we'd create an infographic charting it's history, and make some predictions for it's future...

Nice, clean design.

Thanks to Vas for sending in the link!

SwissLeaks: the map of the globalized tax evasion

 

SwissLeaks: the map of the globalized tax evasion infographic from Martin Grandjean shows the countries that were affected the most by the HSBC "Swiss Leaks" data.

HSBC “Swiss Leaks” data shared by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reflect the globalization of tax evasion. While billions of dollars are inconceivable, mapping the origin of bank account holders allows an overview. This map is only a small contribution to the understanding of the Swiss Leaks data.

Why this map?

This map does voluntary not strictly stick to the geographical reality. It is a response to too many maps published in the media these days that are made unreadable by regrettable graphic choices: top-ten limited, overlapping points, colored territories (small countries and islands disappear), etc.

What does it show?

The number of affected countries and their diversity is very important. Note the strong presence of the Caribbean. In proportion to their population, South and East Asia are very poorly represented, while the Middle East is over-represented. The strong presence of “tax havens” is explained by the use of intermediates by the holders of bank accounts.

A great example of using the area of the squares to represent the amounts.

Created by Martin Grandjean

The Dark Web

We have heard of the dark web. But what is actually sold on it? The Dark Web infographic from Weforum.org reports the revenue totals from 3 categories; illegal drugs, percription drugs, and non-drugs.

We often hear about the dark web being linked to terrorist plots, drug deals, knife sales and child pornography, but beyond this it can be hard to fully understand how the dark web works and what it looks like.

Just like the forest, the dark web hides things well – it hides actions and it hides identities. The dark web also prevents people from knowing who you are, what you are doing and where you are doing it. It is not surprising, then, that the dark web is often used for illegal activity and that it is hard to police.

Off the paths it is almost impossible to find anything – unless you know what you’re looking for – so it feels a bit like a treasure hunt. Because really the only way to find anything in this vast forest is to be told where to look. This is how the dark web works – and it is essentially the name given to all the hidden places on the internet.

So just for a minute imagine that the whole internet is a forest – a vast expanse of luscious green as far as the eye can see. And in the forest are well worn paths – to get from A to B. Think of these paths as popular search engines – like Google – allowing you as the user the option to essentially see the wood from the trees and be connected. But away from these paths – and away from Google – the trees of the forest mask your vision.

Good use of proportional circle sizes to represent the dollar values!

Found on Weforum.org