I’ve been wanting to use this graphical concept for a while, and I finally got my chance during a recent autism project we published this weekend.

Below is the original graphic comparing the fallout of major U.S. banks during the collapse of ‘08 (if you can’t read the text, just know that blue represents market value in the second quarter of 2007 and and green represents market value in January 2009).

I first saw the graphic, which was published by JPMorgan, in a chain e-mail and the concept just stuck with me. The idea of a smaller circle being able to fit inside the larger one to illustrate proportion and change was simple yet brilliant.

Here’s my best attempt using the rising number of children with autism spectrum disorders enrolled in Virginia public schools between 2001 and 2008.

You can view the entire project page here (which I also helped design).