How can you create a box around an axis tick label in ggplot2?

Question

For several reasons, I am trying to duplicate the grotesque plot shown below. It violates many precepts of good data visualization so for training purposes my goal is to use

Answer 1

Slightly off-topic but this is a suggested quick-and-dirty workaround: export the graph as PNG (bitmapped) or SVG (vector-based) and manually add the black blocks with white text.

Answer 2

I think your best bet is to create viewports at the location of the tick labels, and draw a black rectangle and white text there. For example:

vp1 <- viewport(x = 0.225, y = 0.55, width = 0.45, height = 0.07)
grid.rect(gp = gpar(fill="black"), vp = vp1)
grid.text("Lack of anti-bribery corruption training or awareness within the business", gp=gpar(col="white", cex = 0.6), vp = vp1)

Will give you the graph below: