I was taken aback by a display that illustrated the number of people who were kidnapped from their homes in Africa and forcibly transported across the Atlantic Ocean to be enslaved in the Americas. Intellectually, we know it was “a lot” but this display put the magnitude into perspective by utilizing grains of rice. One cube held 2,000 grains (the size of the local college), and another 37,000 grains (the size of the town). Both were dwarfed by a tower of 12 million, a low estimate of the number who were transported.
Choosing to portray this staggering statistic in a three-dimensional way added to the power of the statement it was trying to make and placing it next to other recognizable benchmarks also contributed to its impact.
In addition to taking a moment to pause at what this display truly represents, also gain a lesson in communicating your message. Sharing something in a non-traditional, three-dimensional, and context-setting way can communicate with much more depth and emotion than just having a plaque or anything on paper.
