Out of Balance – The Scissors Diagram
Years
since 2012
Innovation
Scissors Diagram
Method
Income Comparisons
The Scissors Diagram – Form Follows Critique
Two lines diverge. The further apart they spread, the greater the inequality. The scissors diagram makes economic disparities not only measurable, but visible and tangible. It is not a neutral chart – it is an instrument for critiquing the present. We develop the form from a specific question: how can the neoliberal system's claim that «performance is fairly rewarded» be empirically verified? What happens when we compare a teacher in Johannesburg with one in London? The visual form – two diverging lines – makes inequality not only quantifiable, but emotionally experienceable. The scissors diagram is simultaneously metaphor and measuring instrument.
2012: Competition Win – ARCH+ and the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation
In 2012, the magazine ARCH+ and the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation launched an unusual competition: «Critique of the Present through the Medium of Information Design». They sought empirically grounded analyses for the age of the Anthropocene – an Earth almost entirely reshaped by human activity. The central question: how do we organize ourselves on an increasingly densely populated planet when ecological transformation fails without social justice? Over 500 teams from 42 countries entered. We developed a poster series based on the UBS «Prices and Earnings» report, making income differences between metropolises worldwide visible – not with conventional bar charts, but with the scissors diagram. We won first prize. The jury recognized not only the graphic innovation, but the political dimension: information design as enlightenment and a call to action, in the tradition of Otto Neurath.
2016: Publication in the ARCH+ Catalogue «Planetary Urbanism»
ARCH+ published the project in the catalogue «Planetary Urbanism – Critique of the Present». We updated the poster series and adapted it to the magazine layout. We integrated new juxtapositions of prices and wages within very limited space. The diagram continues to evolve and proves adaptable to presentation formats.
2020: Vienna Design Week – Schweizer Pavillon / Swiss Pavilion
We presented an updated version at the Vienna Design Week – as a giveaway poster for the public and as an interactive data story based on current UBS data. The interactive version enables independent exploration: users navigate through chapters, compare metropolises across time, and draw their own conclusions. Out of Balance was longlisted for the Information is Beautiful Award 2020.
2025: Publication in INGRAPHICS – New Data Story
The scissors diagram appears in an expanded version in IN GRAPHICS magazine by Jan Schwochow. The reason for the revision: UBS discontinued the «Prices and Earnings» data series. The conceptual core remains; the method changes. We focus on purchasing power parity (PPP) as a global benchmark for comparing countries. The new version shows three professional fields (managers, skilled workers, service workers) in over 30 countries and makes gender-based wage gaps visible – an aspect not possible in earlier versions. The data comes from the UN framework for «Decent Work and Economic Growth» (SDG 8.5). The project now documents not only inequality, but political progress towards «Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value».