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The MP43 / MP44 / StG44 Assault Rifle: Theory to Practice - WWII Magazine, November 2007

November's graphic in WWII Magazine is concerned with the creation of the first assault rifle by the Nazis. On a personal note, this is one of my favourites so far and the first one I did when I started this project last year.

Editorial Issues
Useful Range
In the hands of an expert, some of these weapons would have a much greater effective range but I looked at alot of different figures and these seem to be the best averages.

I hadn't realised what an effective and efficient weapon the Ppsh41 was until I started this graphic. Reading about whole divisions of Soviet troops equipped with these, you begin to get a picture of the attritional nature of the war and the force of the wave that crashed back on the Germans.

(Read Ivan's War for a superb account of the lot of the average Soviet infantryman in WWII. Very readable - more interested in the effect of these events on normal people as opposed to 'Order of Battle' detail.)

anyway - back to ...

Which weapons to include?
I missed out pistols - not influential enough on large actions. I decided to include heavy machine guns because they were often part of the battlefield, creating imbalances of firepower alongside these other weapons. At one point I was going to note the weight of each weapon, to show the trade-offs between weight and firepower. This would have been one variable too many in what was already quite a dense data visualisation.

The first?
One could argue that the FG42 was an earlier assault weapon. It does indeed merit a mention although it's use was not widespread.

Kalashnikov?
I am loathe to mention too much of the modern implications of these technologies. There is alot to be said about the influence of the  Germans on US weaponry since WWII - the M60 even looks like an FG42! I feel that discussing the present too much will take the WWII reader away from reflecting on the WWII era - important for appreciating the difficluties of manufacturing and technology at this time.

Design elements
Graphic Vistas
This graphic got me thinking about the landscape or 'vista' as a metaphor in information graphics. I hope I will explore some different techniques in the work for WWII Magazine but this one follows a common idea. It is the idea of an overview in the general theme and issues of a topic (the rifle range here) with data available one layer down - just as a graph shows you the general trend and then allows detail to be investigated. I have also added a formal 'tour' of the issues and an explaination in the story of the Stg44.

Everyday Activity
I reflected that showing all the data on a 'vista' with the viewer compositionally above the 'scene', able to survey and take in all was a good fit with our natrual perception systems. Every day, we are confronted with views and scenes that we need to  make sense of - and I felt that for this reason, the data presented on such a 'vista' woud be easier to digest.

Field of Vision
I further stretched my theory of the 'vista' being an easily digestable information format, by considering the human factors/ ergonomics of reading a magazine. When most people read the magazine, there will not be much room either side of the magazine for their remaining field of vison. The magazine, with 'vista' presentation, has replaced their normal view. It follows that replacing the brain's normal expectation of a view - with depth of field and significant objects - with another sort of view will be a more cognitively digestible way to convey informtion than a graphic that only works on the flat plane of the page.

Colour leads the Way
Thanks also to John (Grimwade) and Nigel (Holmes) who were really helpful with this one.
They both made the point that the central narrative  the 400m-Stg44 axis, should be raised above the rest of the data. On the version they saw, there was red elsewhere on the page, distracting the eye from a 1-2-3-4 narrative, attracting the eye to non-crucial visual elements (the explosions in the gun barrels on page 2 bottom left).

Delivering Flames and Fear - The Flamethrower - WWII Magazine, October 2007

Here is the graphic for WWII Magazine for October.

It is concerned with the development of the flamethrower - a weapon as effective as a psychological terror device as it was deadly against concealed troops. (Steve and his editorial folks have a done a good job of the headline in that respect).

The rest of the magazine looks really strong this month too - there are some very good articles and it is settling into a compelling product. (I've just been on holiday in the US and when I went in to a newstand to find a copy, they had sold out - always a sign of a popular product!)

I'll proceed as normal with some thoughts on the editorial content and design.

Editorial
Tanks, but no tanks
I missed out details of tanks that were equipped with flamethrowers. I wanted to concentrate on flamethrowers' use in small unit tactics - utilised effectively by the US in it's increasingly violent path towards the Japanese mainland. One could argue that this special context needs explaining more with maps etc, but I wanted a degree of generalism in the information. I will also be doing some work on the variations of tank design that will include these weapons.

Operator
I also wanted people to reflect on the hazardous nature of the operator. I had conflicting reports on the results of a direct hit on the fuel tanks and so didn't include that information - but there was no doubt that they were despised by their enemies and that would have placed an extra burden on men already undergoing an incredible amount of pressure.

The Survivor
In the use of the silhouette on the bottom right illustrates the point I make about the risks to the operator - it is another example of trying to use that area to lead people out of the military technology issues in this series and to get people to reflect on the human angle if possible. It is a picture of a man that doesn't in itself convey any information - this angle is discussed a little later on.

Napalm
One piece of information that didn't appear was information on the molecular structure of napalm. The text deals with it's chemical make up but I felt that a memorable way to convey this would be to show the complex carbon chains created by the addition of the napalm soap (compared to relatively simple kerosene without napalm). After asking some chemist friends, it turns out that the structure created by such a combination is not consistent and therefore hard to show with any integrity. It was a shame as I thought it would communicate the whole point of the need for napalm - one being it's long-burning nature - that matches the time it takes to read it's chemical structure.

Other Countries
All sides in WWII used these weapons but I concentrated on the US angle (a) because of the readership of the magazine (b) data on US small unit tactics was more readily available -(I have generally found that much data - casualties , research etc is very well documented by the US) (c) comparisons of flamethrowers would be moot - none were too different - it was tanks that really brought them to the next level. (Although tanks couldn't often get to the places, with the element of surprise, where they were most useful.)

Design
Visual Impact
It would have been quite possible to do this graphic in a more visually impartial way. With the dark background and more expressive flame jet, there is a element of subjectivity. The issues of decorative/ purely illustrative elements in information graphics is an important one. One could argue that a chart detailing most hated weapons would land the drama as much as the chiaroscuro of the flame against the dark background, but I thought I'd try it out. The jet across the page also binds the page - another one of my ongoing trials - I believe that visual information can be presented in paragraphs - not just big massive pictures.

Dots and Dashes
I have then swung the other way in explaining the covering fire by dots point (1) on the bottom left. Perhaps there is an uneasy mix of the expressive and the abstract. In my other work I find that different formats can co-exist but need to be labelled and consistent - maybe there is too much of a mix of styles here - but maybe not.

Anyway, that's it for thoughts on this one. I've got some interesting graphics from wartime magazines that I am going to put on the site for those of you wanting something else on these subjects apart from the monthly fare. I won't claim credit for them, and it maybe a little like reprinting old material but I am not sure many of you all will have seen it.