This transparent thing is what makes infographics work. It is not obvious because it is transparent. By “data”, I mean both numbers and facts. Here is what most people agree on: that infographics are some combination of data and design. Since then we have not reached complete agreement on what infographics are. The word “infographic” first started appearing consistently in the 1960s. This is a different challenge than maps used to solve describing the world as it is. Infographics are our tool to deal with complexity. Why invent a new name? Because there is something special about now: we are looking at mountains of new data with no radically new tools to make sense of it. So “infographic” is simply a new name for an old thing. Infographics are rich maps for information in general. So what is an infographic? It is just a map. We could add imagery or iconography here to make it an infographic, but it would still be missing the contextual content to make it a GREAT infographic.To start our discussion, first, it makes sense to de-mystify infographics. Without that context, we’re missing a creative design opportunity. Flat numbers have no connection, correlation, or association with other numbers.
What’s even better are numbers with relationships or comparisons to give them better context.ĭoes your content have data? Do those numbers relate to each other somehow? Percentages are great because they have an inherent relationship to another number (100%) – 27% has a relationship to 100% that we can visually convey. The best content for infographics is data. It’s our shared responsibility to find content that will be best conveyed by infographics. It’s our responsibility ( the design agency) to bring the creative part. We are not always on the same page, and even when we are, there seems to be a lack of good content to fulfill that vision. The word infographic can be a frustrating deliverable for designers because every client has a different understanding of what that means. It is data via storytelling and creative visuals instead of data via scientific or mathematical expressions. The final creative portrayal of your data might be a chart, graph, flowchart, list, map, sequence, timeline, or illustration. Examples include story, branding, photography, illustration, graphic elements, etc. The visual design and storytelling factor. Examples include: statistics, instructions, dates, progressions, evolutions, processes, etc. This good four-letter word is the meat of the content.
Let’s break down these two pieces, data + creative. However, there is one distinct differentiator: the “creative” factor.ĭata visualizations (like charts and graphs) can be part of an infographic, but what makes it an infographic is the addition of creative. Infographics and Data Visualizations are similar. ic) noun: a chart, diagram, or illustration (as in a book or magazine, or on a website) that uses graphic elements to present information in a visually striking way.Īn infographic is a visually creative execution of data.The kind of word you’d say to your mother. In this article, I’ll help define an infographic, tell you what makes a good infographic, and discuss common mistakes.
I’m here to put the soap in your foul mouth. Or they ask for one when the content isn’t right for an infographic. Most people have a different understanding of what an infographic is. It’s offensive because you’re using it wrong. Your favorite deliverable, the “infographic”, is a dirty word. Hero Image Credit: Italic Studio, Hog Island Press, The New York Times, and The Boston Globe.
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