If Spiderman had to operate a crane, what kind of crane do you think he would use? Hint: it would be a crane in the shape of a spider. This graphic, supplied by minicrane-hire.com provides some information about the original UNIC mini-spidercrane, which is also celebrating its 8th anniversary this year. So, just how much can this spider baby lift? It can lift over 6 tons, and yet, it’s still small enough to fit through doorways. In that way, it’s kind of like a bowflex, though I’m pretty sure a boxfex couldn’t support 6 tons.
The graphic doesn’t actually mention any facts about the crane (except at the very bottom of the graphic). Instead, it compares and contrasts animals, people, and things that can lift heavy loads. For instance, it points out that the leafcutter ant can lift 50 times its own body weight, but it isn’t as strong as the rhinoceros beetle which can lift 850 times its own body weight. It also says that Indian born British strongman Manjit Singh broke a world record in 2009 by pulling one double decker bus 20 yards.
Celebrating the 8th anniversary of the spider crane by providing facts about other objects that can lift things in extraordinary ways is definitely a unique approach. Alright, let’s power lift our way down to the grading portion.
This design is definitely unique, and I admire the artistic aptitude of the artist. I cannot give a higher grade than a B- though because ultimately, I am not sure if the approach that the artist took struck the balance between being creative and still presenting facts in an organized, natural way well enough. But this graphic certainly wins points for trying something different. What I would question is why certain words were emphasized on the graphic in the way they were. For instance, on the far right, the word “OR” is in giant capital letters. Why did the artist want to draw attention to this word? I suppose what I am getting at is, were certain words and letters capitalized and written in bigger font for any specific purpose, or was this done completely at random. If it was done completely at random…well, the best artists rarely do things at random. Think about a song playing in the background of a bar in a movie scene. This song would definitely not be picked at random unless the director was amateurish or mediocre.
What the graphic lacks in flow (the best graphics tell a story and present information in logical, organized ways) it makes up for by presenting facts that are unusual and captivating. Some of the animal traits the graphic mentions are quite unbelievable.
We are quite happy to have this graphic join the legions of others here at the showcase.