Author Archives: George Petras

This was a graphic I advocated for a USA TODAY publication that looked back on the Korean War. The publication contained excellent stories about veterans from all 50 states and their experiences, but I felt strongly that we should clearly … Continue reading →

This is one of those graphics that walk a fine line between serving financially savvy subscribers and newcomers who may be unfamiliar with regulations on banks. It’s complicated but important, since we’re talking about banks whose failures could cause a … Continue reading →

This is a simple but effective illustration showing how the falling level of the Mississippi River endangers river traffic by exposing below-surface rock formations called pinnacles. I came up with the idea but graphic artist David Evans made it work.

It was a challenge to show how Internet Protocol version 6 is different from version 4, the one currently in use. One way was to depict how the number of Internet address would increase, from 4.3 billion to 340 undecillion … Continue reading →

This is a relatively simple chart, but it shows how high-ranking U.S. military officers are joining defense contractors. Their presence gives companies a unique advantage when competing for defense contracts.

This graphic shows how U.S. imports of oil have increased during the past 36 years despite high-profile pledges of American energy independence by presidents of both political parties.

This combination of maps and a bar chart showed which states, especially crucial swing states, supported President Obama on election day. David Evans helped me set up the sliding bar chart, which I constantly updated throughout the evening of the … Continue reading →

This graphic explains the complex formula used to adjust U.S. defense spending levels under sequestration. I worked closely with two defense analysts to chart the equation. We tried to break down the formula and make it as simple as possible … Continue reading →