One of the most powerful tools at our disposal as visual communicators is the ability to create contrast through comparison.
We are constantly using comparison to draw conclusions in our everyday life.
The same mechanic works when we think about conveying our ideas visually.
?In theory, there is no difference between practice and theory. In practice, there is.? ? Yogi Berra
Yogi Berra's words are making a comparison between a hypothetical situation and reality. The visual language used to represent this idea are following the same construct.
To break this down a little further, let's take an example from the financial world ? "compound Interest," the idea that the compounding gains from long-term investing begin to accelerate at an alarming rate over long periods of time.
The image above is borrowing the symbols we associate with the theory of compounding wealth (the smooth, textbook looking curve on the left) and the actuality of compounding wealth (the frenetic, fluctuating chart on the right).
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