The idea for an all-graphics story had originated two years earlier with Nancy Gibbs , an editor-at-large. Time produced a number of themed issues, called annuities, every year. The most famous was “Person of the Year,” an in-depth profile of a particularly newsworthy or influential individual. Such themed issues, published around the same date each year, were popular with advertisers because they could use the publication schedule to plan in advance the issues in which they would purchase space.

In the fall of 2004, Time was considering introducing some new annuities into the mix. Pondering the alternatives, Gibbs remembered that comparative statistics—ranking best places to live or top vacation destinations or most popular cars—were a consistent hit with readers. “People love comparing their community to others or reading about themselves,” she reasons. “People love lists.” ^[1] Gibbs began to consider the statistical measures Time could present to foster other revealing comparisons. States could be ranked by their residents’ state of health, education level or divorce rates. They could be explored through the lenses of drug abuse, population density or average earnings. Because there was no limit to the ways of measuring Americans, there was potentially no limit to the feature. Gibbs therefore suggested that this could be another annuity—one that would “hold up a mirror” to America. She dubbed it “American Mirror.”

Listen to Gibbs talk about “American Mirror.”

Since Gibbs was proposing a story told with statistics, however, she reasoned that a written article would not be the best vehicle for it. “None of this makes sense to just write in prose,” she says. “It all screams to be told visually.” She presented her idea as an opportunity to take advantage of Time ’s strength in graphics.