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representation of the information, but to also engage the audience and establish the mood
and tone of the context. Accurate and clear communication is as important as the aesthetics;
however, for the viewers who do not understand the context, data visualization can be
difficult to understand especially the ones visualizing complicated statistical information in
scientific research. Viewers can still view data visualization out of context and still be
engaged and appreciate the work based on its aesthetic alone. A famous early data
visualization which is purely a graphical representation of a series of numerical data is called
"Diagram of the causes of mortality in the army in the East", by Florence Nightingale (1858).
Figure 2.4:
Diagram of the Causes of Mortality in the Army in the East
(1858)
Florence Nightingale was a British nurse and statistician. She brought attention to the
problems of unsanitary condition inside the hospitals. Nightingale realized that soldiers were
dying needlessly from poor sanitation at the hospital where she worked. She tried very hard
to make an argument to improve living conditions for the wounded troops, and to help her
argument she transformed the soldiers’ death toll, which she kept meticulous record of, into
data visualization (Cohen 1984).
2.2.4 Persuasion in Graphic Design
Like all types of communication, graphic design (also known as visual communication) is
never simply a form of expression but a carefully constructed message aimed to achieve a
certain end. Anything associated with rhetoric and the art of making an argument can be
perceived as assertive and hostile, while anything persuasive can often be perceived as
misleading. While that may be true as several graphic design works are considered aggressive
and manipulative (propaganda art, advertisement design using fear and sex appeal), but
creating persuasion has always been an essential part of graphic design. That is why most if
not all of graphic designers are part of the commercial art industry specialized in branding
and advertising. Graphic design’s entire existence is to persuade and communicate. Every
