Gesellschaft und Wirtschaft: Bildstatistisches Elementarwerk - Kaffee-, Kakao-, Teewirtschaft der Erde [14080.045]
The pattern
This still is filed under Data as proof.
Define
A chart, map, or count that is the argument, not an illustration next to the argument.
Mechanism
Sighted evidence. The reader is asked to believe their eyes: a bar, a share, a spread on a map.
Verdict
The claim is comparative or quantitative and the figure can be read without a caption doing the sell.
Why it works
The key is built as a matrix, three commodities crossed with produced-and-consumed, produced-and-exported and imported, so one small grid unlocks nine distinct marks and the map never needs annotation. Silhouette carries the commodity and surface treatment carries the trade state, which means two categorical variables ride on the same symbol without colour. Leaving the oceans as bare paper drops all contrast that is not data, so the dense symbol blocks are the only dark masses on the sheet and the reader's eye goes straight to them. Because producer and consumer blocks use identical units, the geographic split between growing and drinking is read as a shape, not inferred from a table.
Steal this when
Use this when several related product lines share one geography and you need a single map rather than three. The matrix key is the piece to steal any time you have two categorical dimensions and want to avoid a legend longer than the chart.