Rest of World explored experimental visual storytelling styles to provide exciting, immersive experiences that showcased and enhanced our journalism.
In “How AI reduces the world to stereotypes,” we created and analyzed 3,000 AI-generated images to explore how AI “sees the world.” Displaying 3,000 images in one story is challenging; we wanted to showcase the depth of the data without overwhelming readers. We built an interactive grid displaying specific image sets, with custom filters that highlight specific elements — and stereotypes — within sets. The result is powerful, showing the persistence of bias and stereotypes in AI on a digestible scale. While this story has written elements, the dominant message is conveyed through design: When readers see only one image of a woman highlighted in a massive grid of images of men, the message is clear.
In “40 companies beating the West,” we showcased our list of outstanding startups by drawing inspiration from vintage boxing posters. Using visual blocks and creative image treatments, we employed vibrant colors, bold typography, monochromatic photo treatments, and even animated boxing gloves. What could have been a visually stagnant, text-based list became a dynamic reader experience, capturing the list’s “Rest vs. West” concept of competition in a more playful tone.
Finally, we published a series on how China has come to dominate the world’s online shopping arena. The goal was to create a visual treatment mirroring the websites we wrote about — like Temu, Shein, and Alibaba — with brightly colored popups, tickers and sale counters, and common e-commerce icons like flames, stars, and lightning bolts. We built a dynamic landing page and created custom visuals for each story, including several feature-length articles, a video, and an interactive quiz where readers guess Temu’s weirdest objects. The consistent visual elements create a bright, stimulating visual experience, which reflects the gamification of shopping online.
