Infographics

Definition and Importance ..................................................................................................... 2

Three important elements of infographics ............................................................................. 2
Visual Elements ..............................................................................................................................2
Content Elements ...........................................................................................................................2
Knowledge Elements ......................................................................................................................2
The History of Infographics .................................................................................................... 2
Types of Infographics............................................................................................................. 3
Cause and Effect.............................................................................................................................3
Chronological .................................................................................................................................3
Quantitative...................................................................................................................................3
Directional .....................................................................................................................................3
Product ..........................................................................................................................................3
Tips for Designing Infographics .............................................................................................. 3
Examples of Infographics ....................................................................................................... 4
Tortuous Road (template)—Directional Infographic ........................................................................4
Step (template)—Chronological Infographic ....................................................................................4
References............................................................................................................................. 5

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Infographics

Definition and Importance

Infographics are visual presentations of information that communicate complex data quickly and
clearly. They use elements of design to display the content. Infographics use complex messages for a
way to enhance the viewer’s understanding. The images are often a representation of the content of a
written article, but convey a self-contained message or principle.

The importance of infographics is to communicate a message, present a large amount of data in

a compacted form that is easy to understand, displays data that analyzes cause and effect relationships,
and to monitor the route of certain parameters.

Three important elements of infographics

Visual Elements
Visual elements catch the attention of the viewer and present information in a way that is easy to
understand.

Content Elements
Having good content is the backbone to an infographic. These elements will present the viewer with the
intended message of the infographic.

Knowledge Elements
This element will state the facts.

The History of Infographics

Thirty-two thousand years’ cave paintings from 30,000 BC could easily be called the first
infographics, depicting animals and other resources in the surrounding area. As visual representations of
data, they’re definitely infographics. The first known examples of infographics are hieroglyphics or cave
paintings in ancient Egypt 5,000 years ago. Nicole d’Orseme (1352–1382), Bishop of Lisieux, combined
figures into groups and graphed them. Leonardo da Vinci combined graphics with text in his “Treatise on
Painting.”

The Commercial and Political Atlas, published in 1786 by William Playfair, was the first example
of modern infographics Gallop Organization was the first to deeply investigate the capabilities of
infographics. Its research concluded that graphic elements receive a greater deal of attention and have a
more memorable impression on viewers than a presentation using words only.

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Types of Infographics
Cause and Effect
Usually graphs used to represent the exact
causal effect of something
Chronological
Explain a series of events or process that
happened in time. This type enables readers to
analyze the relationship between various stages
of a process. An example of this infographic may
be the sales of a product for a company over a
period of time.
Quantitative
These infographics convey statistical data that
the audience can read quickly and clearly. They
include charts, graphs, tables, and lists. They
can be used to explain the hierarchy and
responsibilities of different positions. This type
could be used to display sports statistics.
Directional
Infographics can navigate readers through
information. Numbers, symbols, icons,
diagrams, graphs, tables, arrows, and bullets
are used to communicate information.
Product
Product infographics combine images with data
so it allows a lot of information to be
comprehended in a limited amount of space.
They can be seen on notice boards at factories
and corporate offices, conveying information to
all employees and visitors.

Tips for Designing Infographics

 Simplicity: simple, clean, concise, and clear
 Cause: emphasize the cause and effect relationship
 Boundaries: be clear, define your questions carefully, sticking to one question makes it easier to
communicate to the public.
 Color: Contrast, the background should blend well with the illustrations.
 Layout: Tap your creativity, adopt an exciting trend in the creation of your design, use a maximum
of two or three fonts in the designs you create.
 Attention grabber: clear idea of the final size of the graphic as you are working.
 Verifiable: Make infographics trustworthy by allowing readers to dig deeper into the data if they so
desire. Always cite your data sources with relevant links.

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Examples of Infographics

Tortuous Road (template)—Directional Infographic

pingebat/Shutterstock.com

Vector infographics are a type of

directional infographic. It navigates the
reader through information, in this
template using symbols, icons,
diagram, and text to communicate
information.

Step (template)—Chronological Infographic

INFO4YOU-studio/Shutterstock.com

This infographic gains attention because of the

overall design. It looks like a board game that
someone would play as a child, such as Candyland
or Life. The infographic has a very familiar look which
might possibly help someone better follow the
informational steps that are being shown.

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References
How to Create and Use Beautiful Infographics in Your Marketing.pdf. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6-RDXzIIJpzZ2dyVUZRVDI4NUE/view

I. (n.d.). What are infographics and why are they important? Retrieved from
http://www.instantshift.com/2011/03/25/what-are-infographics-and-why-are-they-important/

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