Fraud and Corruption: An Editorial
Data Story
This project explores how fraud and corruption manifest globally, from high-level trends to everyday mechanisms and impacts. The goal was not to produce a single chart, but to design an editorial system: a sequence of visuals where each chart plays a specific narrative role.
The focus throughout was on clarity, hierarchy, and audience understanding, rather than visual novelty.
Role: Information Designer/ Data Visualisation
Type: Self-initiated editorial project
Tools: Python, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe After Effects, Figma
Data: Public reporting ( ONS, Transparency International); some values are illustrative
Design system
A limited colour palette, consistent typography, and a shared grid ensure visual coherence across line charts, rankings, flows, pictograms, and composition charts.
Each visual serves a distinct narrative role, establishing context, explaining mechanisms, or highlighting dominant patterns, while remaining part of a single, readable system.
The system prioritises clarity, hierarchy, and editorial judgement, allowing complex topics like fraud and corruption to be communicated quickly to a broad audience.
MOODBOARD
CHARTS
Fraud incidents over time​​
This lead chart establishes the macro trend: fraud incidents continue to rise despite reduction targets.
I used a restrained colour palette and strong visual hierarchy to ensure the trend is readable at a glance.
The chart is designed to anchor the story before moving into detail.
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Editorial role: Set context and urgency.
Charts are designed using the grid system for consistency and also animated for visual engagement.
Global corruption risk by country
To situate fraud within a global context, I designed a ranked country comparison using Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index. A soft world map provides geographic grounding without competing with the data. The emphasis is on relative position rather than exact values.
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Editorial role: Provide global framing and comparison.
How corruption undermines health and education
This alluvial chart explains the mechanism, not just the magnitude.
It shows how public funds are diverted through corruption mechanisms (such as bribery and procurement fraud), leading to service loss and long-term social outcomes in health and education.
Colour is used semantically to track funding sources across the flow.
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Editorial role: Explain systems and downstream impact.
Staff engagement with gamified fraud training
This pictogram chart shows staff participation in a gamified fraud-training programme.
Each dot represents one staff member, allowing completion rates to be understood instantly without precise reading. The design prioritises speed of comprehension and behavioural insight.
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Editorial role: Communicate participation and engagement.
Most common fraud scenarios
This donut chart highlights the dominance of phishing among reported fraud scenarios.
I deliberately used a donut rather than a bar chart to emphasise composition and reinforce a single key takeaway. The central annotation ensures the chart communicates insight, not just proportion.
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Editorial role: Highlight dominant patterns
DESIGN APPROACH
Across the series, I made deliberate editorial choices:
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Chart types were selected based on narrative purpose, not variety
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Colour was used consistently and semantically
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Complexity was reduced to lower cognitive load
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Visuals were iterated to improve clarity and hierarchy
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The result is a cohesive set of graphics that function together as a single editorial story.