Self-Embedding Objects

In this CNN story (Sept. 9, 2010) on their "the chart" blog, the subject of the matter teenagers embedding foreign objects into their bodies.

This graphic above originally caught my attention because I couldn't figure out what the squiggly lines in the elbow were. Turns out, this 17-year-old's elbow has "staples (shown by straight arrows), an unfolded paper clip (curved arrow), and graphite fragments (arrowheads)." I think a strength of this graphic is that it uses the actual x-ray. If the graphic illustrator decided instead to make a popularity chart of embedded objects, I would find it interesting but this brings the issue home. It lets the reader see how far the objects are pushed into the body and mentally envision putting those objects in their own arm. Using different arrows to indicate different objects is strong too. A legend near the graphic would have been helpful, instead of having to read through the article to find the key. A weakness of this graphic is that the arrows are a color that's involved in the graphic. If the arrows are meant to blend in, that's one thing. But a quick glance might lead the reader to believe the arrows are in the arm. Arrows of a different color than white would be helpful because it would be obvious that it's not a part of the x-ray.

There is no option for interactivity or enhancement of this graphic. It is meant to be a demonstrative graphic.