I thought I would share a little information about infographs. I have a book, Visual Communication: Images with Messages written by Paul Martin Lester who dedicated one of its 17 chapters to informational graphics. It’s very interesting. If you pick up the book and don’t read the entire thing, at least read this chapter. You will learn about the history of infographs, how important infographs are in telling complex stories, important historical precedents for today’s infographs, and different types of infographs and how they’re used.
Let’s start with the definition: “Informational graphics (called infographics or new graphics) are visual displays that can be anything from a pleasing arrangement of facts and figures in a table to a complex, interactive diagram with accompanying text that helps explain a complex story’s meaning. With headlines, text, photographs, video, and audio, informational graphics are included in media presentations in order to explain aspects to a story that words and traditional pictures and video alone could not explain fully.” There are several types of infographics: informational graphics, which include newspaper infographics; statistical infographic elements, which include charts and data maps; and nonstatistical infographic elements, which include fact boxes, tables, nondata maps, diagrams, courtroom drawings, television schedules, calendars, icons and logos, flowcharts, timelines, and illustrations.
Remember, “A high quality infographic should do the following: 1) have an important message to communicate, 2) convey information in a clear, precise, and efficient manner, 3) never insult the intelligence of readers or viewers, and 4) always tell the truth.”
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