Infographics pre-dates the written word, by a long shot – think early cave paintings. More “recently,” this well-known 1858 infographic was created by Florence Nightingale to differentiate the causes of mortality among British soldiers in the Crimean War (graphic published in Wikimedia Commons).
This 156 year old graphic is an example of data visualization – the graphical elements are in proportion to actual data – and with a little updating in style, would be indistinguishable from a modern infographic.
Another well-known historical example is the route map of the London Underground (Reproduced from the Transport for London website). This graphic, designed in 1933 by Harry Beck, a draftsman at the London Underground, was quite controversial in its day, because unlike previous route maps, it did not include the geographical street layouts. Harry Beck’s map is not based on “data,” but displays the underground routes in an abstract fashion, emphasizing the information that the rider needs to navigate the subway system: the different lines, the sequence of stations on the lines, and the locations of transfer points to other lines.
While today’s infographics borrow heavily from these two examples – performing data visualization or providing directions or instructions – the definition of “infographic” is evolving from pure data visualization to something more akin to storytelling. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, so we in the business of communications should always consider graphics as a component of our messaging process. A well-designed infographic will contain the elements necessary to explain and clarify a complex idea – often telling the story from beginning to end. Here is a contemporary example of an infographic, from the FCC, titled “Spec It Out!” This graphic describes the impact of consumer mobile broadband use on the available wireless spectrum.
Here are a few key points to remember to ensure that your graphic performs its communication function and that it contributes to driving traffic to your website:
- Unless the author of the written document or website article is also a graphic designer, she will need to specify the infographic for the designer. This means delivering the data that is to be included in the graphic and all supporting information in a complete and usable format for the designer.
- Graphic design is communication: sometimes it is helpful to include high-impact illustrations to allow readers to quickly key-in to the topic, but at other times a spare and simple design is more effective. If you have a graphic standard – design elements, color palettes – by all means use it.
If you are using an infographic that is not your own, make sure you have permission to use it, and credit the source of the graphic in the text of your document.
Include keywords related to the infographic messaging in the text discussion in your document.
The following sources provide a wealth of information about infographics.
Alberto Cairo is a journalist specializing in Infographics (http://www.thefunctionalart.com/). He currently teaches at the University of Miami, and in 2012 and 2013 he taught three sessions of a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), Introduction to Infographics and Data Visualization, through the Knight Center for Journalism, University of Texas at Austin.
Alberto Cairo, The Functional Art: An Introduction to Information Graphics and Visualization.
Edward Tufte is a professor emeritus at Yale. Originally a statistician, Tufte has taught political science, statistics and computer science, but is best known for his work in data visualization. For the past several years, he has conducted a series of one-day courses on data visualization in locations throughout the U.S., and has written four books on the topic of data visualization. www.edwardtufte.com.