Networks at work

The Tokyo Development Learning Center called on Voilà: to communicate clearly its comparison of Tokyo’s start-up ecosystem to similar innovation hubs around the world.

Our challenge was to create intuitive visuals that presented this complex analysis of thousands of stakeholders and the relationships between them.

The cover page of the report. The design is simple with a light grey background and three coloured circles connected by thin black lines. The design is in reference to the network graphs contained in the report. It is titled "Tokyo Start-Up Ecosystem".

Sleek layout with bright colors

Given that this document is meant for screens (as opposed to print), we opted for a landscape orientation and bright colours. These colours draw the eye into the visuals and clarify the information contained in the networks by distinguishing it from the white background.

A double page of the report. On the left, a title followed by text divided into two columns. On the right, an example of the use of network graphs in the report. Two graphs are presented on the page, representing the startup ecosystems of Tokyo (smaller) and New York (larger). They are accompanied by a legend at the bottom right, and the data sources at the bottom left. The remaining space is exclusively dedicated to the graphs.

The layout of the report emphasizes the hierarchy of information within the report. At the top, the chapter headings are separated by a line, leaving room for the body of the text and its accompanying maps and figures.

Page from the report that highlights the grid organizing the placement of the text. Within the page, a new chapter starts in the top left corner. It is followed by text in a single column. On the right side, the text is accompanied by a figure featuring a map of Japan on a beige background.

Network graphs

Network graphs can quickly look like a jumble of rainbow spaghetti. It therefore requires a clear message and a careful structuring of information to make sense of the hundreds of points and lines.

In this example, we wanted to highlight the following message: specialist investors (in purple) predominate in New York, while non-specialists (in yellow) predominate in Tokyo. This distribution of colours is confirmed by a small bar chart under each of the network graphs.

In addition, to better reflect the original data, we have re-adjusted the scale between the two graphs so that the New York network is larger than the Tokyo one, something not automatically done by the software.

Page of the report where two network graphs are displayed in bright colours. The larger one represents New York and is clearly dominated by purple, the colour of specialist investors. It has only a few small touches of yellow, the colour of non-specialist investors. The other, smaller graph represents Tokyo and is dominated by yellow.

Before

Original network graph of the report, the two ecosystems are presented next to each other, of equal size, the colors (red, green, gray) are difficult to distinguish.

A closer look

To appreciate the amount of information present in this kind of graph, here is the social network of the Tokyo start-up ecosystem, with its main influencing actors by category. You can see some large investors (red) and some large universities (yellow) in the middle of the network.

A close-up view of the network graph in the form of a poster. It presents the social network of the Tokyo start-up ecosystem, showing its main influencing actors by category. Underneath the graph, there is information to aid in reading and understanding such as its title and caption.

Here are some other examples of network graphs from the report that demonstrate the wide visual variety.

Two network graphs are shown in close-up in the visual as a poster. On the left, the top independent venture capital investment networks in Tokyo are presented and on the right, the top corporate venture capital network in the Tokyo ecosystem. Underneath the graphs, information to aid reading and understanding such as their titles and captions are provided.

Quantitative graphs

In contrast to the network graphs which use bright, contrasting colours, the quantitative charts found in the report are based on a fairly neutral colour palette with one red accent colour.

 

Two different pages of the report are presented here. On one page, a network graph is presented, with bright purple, yellow, cyan and red colours. On the other, we see a stacked bar graph with a classic design and more muted colours. In each of these, Japan is represented by a bright red.

Here are some examples of quantitative charts. On a map, bubbles compare the number of start-ups in Tokyo to that of other major cities.

White map of Japan on a beige background. It is covered with purple dots, one of which is large in Tokyo (1232 start-ups). From this, white dots emerge, larger than the one in Tokyo, representing the number of start-ups in other cities of the world. The largest dot is for San Francisco with 22498 start-ups.

A slope chart contrasts Japan’s position in Science & Technology (first) with that in Venture Capital (21st).

On the left, a slope chart showing the 25 countries with the best performance in science and technology. Japan is first. On the right, the 25 countries with the best performance in venture capital. Japan is 21st. A red line connects Japan in both charts. Grey lines connect the other cities.

A bump chart shows that from 2010 to 2019, Japan has moved from first to fourth place in patents. Two line charts show that patent applications have not increased in Japan.

At the top, a bump chart shows that Japan has moved from first place in 2010 to fourth place in 2019, behind China, the US and the EU. At the bottom, two line charts show that patent applications and grants have not increased in Japan from 2010 to 2019.

Finally, an innovative stacked bar chart shows that in Tokyo, 36% of start-up founders come from only 3 universities, while in New York, 28% come from 10 universities.

Stacked bar graph showing the proportion of start-up founders in Tokyo and New York. In Tokyo, 36% of start-up founders come from only 3 universities, while in New York 28% come from 10 universities. On each side, the universities in question are zoomed in to show their names and proportions.

Designing for multiple channels

We also developed an electronic presentation for the client, adapting the visuals to this medium.

A mock-up of the presentation being broadcast in a conference room. In the centre of the picture, the presentation is projected on a screen. It shows a slide comparing the number of domestic mentors and angel investors between Tokyo and New York. In the foreground, we see the conference room with four black chairs and a white table.

In the example below, the size of some elements is enlarged and the level of detail is reduced, knowing that the audience will not have time to explore the visuals at length.

Two different layouts of the same information are presented here. The first page is taken from the report and shows two network graphs with their legends. The second page shows the same graphs adapted for an electronic presentation, with the level of detail reduced to make them easier to read. All of this is accompanied by explanatory text.

In this one, the explanation of the graph has been condensed as much as possible to allow the reader to immediately understand the main message of the visual. The graph itself is at the forefront of the layout.

Two different layouts of the same information are presented here. The first shows a double-page spread from the report with text on the left page and the presentation of a network graph on the right page. The second layout, adapted for an electronic presentation. shows the same graph enlarged, accompanied by a short explanatory text.
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