A nation is, for better or for worse, summarized in its leader. Whether consciously or sub-consciously, we rarely think of Germany without picturing Angela Merkel or of Russia without Vladimir Putin. The leaders of a country not only represent how the world perceives that nation, but also tell a story about the socio-political development of that country and indeed the world at that point in time. Heads of states always leave a lasting mark on their country by adding to its history, setting a course for the future and impacting its relation to the rest of the world.

The Full Perspective is a series of data visualizations designed to capture the political history of a nation in one portrait. These portraits are visual representations of Het Parool’s global journalistic vision and give clues about how recent events are shaped by the history and power shifts in politics throughout the years.

The Full Perspective is a series of data visualizations using archive photography to capture the political history of a nation in a single portrait. In order to do so, a 50-year timeline of that country was created and the portrait of each leader was placed on it based on their date of rule. Official or most commonly used photography of the leaders were used to capture the differences in their communication styles.

Seeing each country through a visual representation of their leaders gives a fresh perspective on the political situation, tying together the past and the present with a look at different cultures’ governments and the political communication differences of their leaders.

This campaign became a visual representation of the global journalistic vision of Het Parool by showing the story and full perspective on nations around the world.

These data visualizations started an intellectual conversation among the readers and helped the newspaper strengthen its position among the competition as a credible source for global news.