Features of Infographics

Infographics have been a popular choice as a text type in recent IB Paper 1 exams.
They offer students a wealth of opportunity to discuss both images and language
choices and are (usually) easy to follow and understand.

STEP ONE: Study the text: Fast Facts Gender Inequality. Identify the key features of
this infographic and analyze how they connect to the text’s purpose and audience.
Think about how the reception and production of the text is impacted by the context.

Complete the table below:

Purpose The purpose of the infographic was

to inform us about gender inequality.

Audience People who are interested in learning

more about gender inequality.

Relevant Context The infographic only tells us about

facts and doesn’t explain what it is
saying. So for someone who doesn’t
know what they are reading it can get
quite hard. However I think most
people know about the gender
inequality.

Features of this Text Type: Analysis (how and why this feature is
used)

A. Title and lead-in: Infographics The title used in this infographic is

often include a snappy title, “Fast Facts Gender Inequality”,
sometimes in the form of a There is no lead in but there is a
question, that captures the reader symbol saying that it is International
and gives the infographic a sense Women’s day.
of focus. The lead-in is a short text
after the title that adds detail to the
title and frames the information of
the infographic in context.

B. Headings and fonts: Headings There are 4 different Headings

help break down information into - Employment
digestible chunks. Different fonts - Complaints
can be used to help the reader - Family violence
discern data from interpretations. - Leadership
Contrasting serif and sans-serif They are all in the same font and all
fonts can help readers discern have the same amount of
detailed content from general information. The different headings
headings. How does your tell you about what you are going to
 infographic engage the reader with
different headings and fonts?
C. Visual pathway and story: Blocks
are read in a sequence. Lines,
arrows and numbers often help
readers navigate information. The
shape of the entire chart will help
determine the pathway. Most
English-speaking readers will want
to read from left the upper-left
corner to the lower-right corner.
Columns, graphs, tables and mind
maps also determine visual
pathways. Good infographics use a
visual pathway to tell a story. How
is does your infographic use a
visual pathway to tell a story?
D. Blocks, colour and negative
space: Blocks of information are
usually framed and coloured in
such a way to make the information
‘pop’ or stand out. Negative space
(or ‘white space’) also draws the
reader's attention to the
information. Good infographics
should not feel cluttered. How does
this infographic use colour and
negative space to highlight what’s
important, set a mood and engage
the reader?
E. Icons and symbols: An icon is a
graphic representation of
something, a person or thing. A
symbol is an abstract sign that has
come to mean something through
social agreement. How does your
infographic use icons and symbols
to convey meaning concisely and
meaningfully?
F. Pictograms, charts and maps:
Pictograms are types of charts and
graphs that use icons and images
to represent data. Also known as
‘pictographs’, ‘icon charts’, ‘picture
charts’, and ‘pictorial unit charts’,
read. Because they are all in the
same font you can see that they are
all equally important.
There are different blocks with
different colors, and every block has
different illustrations. Some have
numbers some have only
illustrations. You first read about
employment and then move on to
complaints when you then go to
family violence you realize that a lot
of those complaints are from their
own family. When they then go to
leadership they understand why
gender inequality is a big issue.
The colors are blue, pink and purple.
The text is white and really springs out
to us. The blocks are the same size and
that makes it really easy to read them.
The illustrations used are very
minimalistic yet explain everything
very well. You get the image so to
say.
There are numbers and charts used
and they give you a good visual of
what is happening. They show you
visually how much people are
actually affected by gender
inequality.
 pictograms use icons to help
readers visualise data. Icons may
be arranged in lines or grids, often
using colours and shades to
indicate a rating, quantity or
percentage. Infographics may
include columns and Venn
diagrams to compare, graphs to
show change over time, doughnut
charts to depict levels of
completion, maps to show
demographics of a population or
mind maps to show relationships.
How does your infographic use
pictograms, charts and maps to
visualise information and tell a
story?

STEP TWO: Write an introduction for a Paper 1 analysis of this text, using the
Guiding Question: How does this text use both written and visual features to provoke
a reaction in the reader?

Remember that the introduction should include relevant elements of PACT and a
thesis statement, which will provide a map for the rest of your analysis.

Write your Intro below and upload this doc in MB; we will discuss and continue
developing the Paper 1 analysis next week.

How does this text use both written and visual features to provoke a reaction in the
reader?

The way this infographic uses a combination of both written and visual features to
make us feel more aware of gender inequality is very well done. Not only does this
infographic show us the most important factors of gender inequality but it also shows
us how many women are impacted by this. This infographic has a purpose to inform
us. The audience for this infographic is very wide, while it was first intended to inform
people on International Women’s Day it is now used to teach us about paper 1. The
general idea this text is trying to share with us the that gender inequality is still very
present and still has to be fought against. They do this by giving you information on
the subject. This text uses both written and visual features and this technique helps
the reader to make a deeper connection to what the text says. Getting visual help
when reading a text can help readers make a connection in their mind, it will help
them visualize the idea. Which will add more tone to the text that they are reading.