THINKING
What are Infographics?
BY NIGEL SMITH
Infographics are visual presentations of data, statistics or ideas using pictures, diagrams or clear organization structures to explain facts or complex ideas quickly and clearly. We see them every day as charts, graphs, tables or diagrams illustrating mostly numerical information. Well-designed infographics help us understand complex data and relationships. They can turn dense statistics into clear visual stories that should be easy to understand. They help our understanding because of their ability to help us see contrasts, comparisons, progress, changes or patterns more easily.
The most dramatic example of the use of infographics was probably by Florence Nightingale in the 1850s. By creating detailed graphs from the statistics of wounded soldiers in the Crimean War, Nightingale was able to convince the British military of the need for more sanitary hospitals and better living conditions for injured soldiers. Nightingale’s diagrams – called “coxcombs” - made complex mortality data easy to understand for politicians and non-experts. She showed that preventable diseases, not battle injuries were killing most soldiers. Her innovative diagrams told clear stories and spurred sweeping hygiene reforms and laid the foundation for professional and modern nursing.
Whether it is a map, diagram, flow-chart or timeline, the conversion of data into legible easily read “images” using typography, shapes, symbols, colours or graphics and organizing rules (lines) is a sophisticated and subtle artform.
Recently, free tools to convert data into infographics have become readily available. However, these auto-pilot programs often miss the important point of what really needs to be communicated. Solutions might look slick and organized, but upon further inspection, the real message is often lost. Neat and tidy alignments are only part of good design. Titles and explanations need to be in sync with labels and captions. Infographics should tell stories and have a real purpose.
“It is by the aid of statistics that law in the social sphere can be ascertained and codified.”
- Florence Nightingale
Integrate Writing and Design
The full integration of writing and design of infographics is essential. From the title of a table or a chart to captions, explanations, or summaries the writer and graphic designer must work with the same goal and common understandings.
Titles
Titles of infographics should help to tell the story. Avoid generic or “so what?” titles. Write informative headers with smaller subtitles to give more detail if necessary.
Captions
Captions should give more than just obvious label information. Captions can draw readers in, give extra information and explain diagrams, or charts in more detail.
Explanations
In a report with many infographics, a brief introductory explanation is an important tool when creating effective communication design. Whether it is “this information at-a-glance”, “Executive Summary” or “How to read this report”, a consolidated high-level outline and synopsis of information is nearly always welcome.
Explanatory texts should use titles and brief descriptions to “chunk” important takeaways to create a precise encapsulation of the salient points. User friendly, conversational headings should help the reader navigate. Such as:
- Who should read this report?
- What should I do with the information?
- What should I do next?
- How to read these infographics
- What these charts can tell us
Another explanatory text could be a “Frequently Asked Questions”– FAQs – To create these, use team and user input to determine probable reader enquiries. The questions should be written in a direct and friendly manner.
Designing Infographics
We have created work-plan diagrams, pictograms and icons, system maps, signage systems and detailed systems of tables, charts and graphs for a range of clients in different sectors. We always use infographics to tell clear stories. Titles and subtitles should be direct rather than generic. A title such as “Hockey Player Salaries” would probably be better as “Steady Increase in Hockey Player Salaries”. The structure, scale and hierarchies of information need to reveal ideas. Here are a few design ideas to consider:
1
We don’t read charts in a predetermined sequence.
Unlike a written report where readers know to start at the top left and read across and down, with an infographic, a reader’s eyes flit from title, plotted statistics, axes, explanations and summaries etc.
Design: Use strong hierarchies, clear differences, editing and layout to guide the reader. Predictable design will make it easier to understand. Most readers understand the ideas behind a bar chart or pie chart or table. Make sure you understand and use those conventions well.
2
Readers are attracted to different emphatic signals.
Large titles or headlines, a peak or valley in a chart, bright colours, density of graphics, intersection points, outliers, graphics, and arrows all attract the eye.
Design: Align visual emphasis with the key message you wish to communicate. Use restraint and editing to make the most important information easy to understand.
3
We can only see and understand a limited number of things at once.
More than eight colours, or too many variables will cause overwhelm or confusion
Design: Judiciously edit every element. Use only the correct amount of info, no more.
Consider simplifying information or condensing data. Decorative shadings or 3D effects just add clutter and confusion.
4
Readers will seek meaning and try to make connections.
Patterns, groupings, alignments, and similarities will send messages about relationships.
Design: Be conscious of visual cues that cause connections or links. Do not make mistaken, unimportant or irrelevant connections by colour, clusters, proximity or positions.
5
Conventions and traditions are powerful forces in reading and understanding.
We read from left to right, top to bottom. We understand importance through position such as high and low or top to bottom. We use left to right to understand sequence. Colour understandings too, are often based on a general acceptance of beliefs. Red means hot, active or alarm, blue means cool or established, green means safe or good. Light shades are empty, darker shades often mean full or dense. A gradient implies progress.
Design: Embrace these conventions, flouting them may cause confusion. A good infographic should help the reader make a “short cut”. A bad infographic will make a reader parse information more than necessary. Good infographics coalesce complex data into clear ideas.
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KerrSmith Design
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Toronto, ON M5A 1V2
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