InfographicsTelling Your Story With

Bianca Woods@eGeeking

Textextext

Poll!What’s your experience

with infographics?

Infographics…and why we seem to like them

Visually engagin

gEspresso Steamed

MilkMilk

Foam

Espresso 30 0 0

Caffé Latte 30 50 20

Cappucchino 30 35 35

Flat White 30 50 0

Texttexttexttexttexttexttexttexttexttext

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Less boring than plain

tables & text

Can simplify & compress content

Image Credit: Lokesh Dhakarhttp://www.lokeshdhakar.com/coffee-drinks-illustrated/

But not all infographics work Sometimes they’re a complete

mess

Poll!Out of the infographics

you’ve seen, what percentage were actually

effective?

Not all infographics are created

alike!What?!

So when should you use an infographic?

…or NOT to infographic?

To infographic…

Consider using an infographic if you need to…

Tie together related data

Simplify large

amounts of content

Tell a story that’s best

told through data

Use it just because it’s shiny & new

Need to tell a linear

narrative story

Attempt to link data

that actually isn’t

connected

You’re better off using something else if you need to…

DiscussionWhat topics from your own work might make

good infographics?

Where do people tend to go wrong when they

make infographics?

? ? ??? ? ?

Unclear point

But what does it mean?!

Data & information is poorly displayed

Well, that doesn’t tell

me anything!

Confusing (or just plain ugly) graphic

designAhhh! My

eyes!

DiscussionWhen you’ve seen weak infographics, what stuck

out as a reason why?

DiscussionHow about great

infographics? What about them stuck out as

particularly effective?

Pie I have eatenPie I have not eaten

How much pie have I eaten so far?a history of pie consumption up to this point of time

So what does a GOOD infographic

have?Logical informatio

n

Well-designed graphics

Clear narrative and point

That’s some good looking pie!

What’s my story?

Topic Data & Info

Essay ApproachResearch Approach

Can I thoroughly support my story?

Main IdeaD

ata

Dat

a

Dat

a

Dat

a

Dat

a

Dat

a

Dat

a

The hard task of sorting

Story

Strongly Related

Mostly Related

SomewhatRelated

SlightlyRelated

Data

Data

Data

Data

Data

Data

Data

Data

Data

Data

Data

Data

Data

DataDat

a

Topic“How

conferences help you build your

skills.”

Try it out for yourself

1.The percentage of people from your company who attended conferences over the past 5 years

2.Quotes from employees about what memorable things they learned at recent conferences

3.A set of statistics on how learning professionals rate the value of conferences

4.Study results on the value of conferences for people in executive roles

5.A chart showing how the number of conferences has increased over the past 10 years

6.A list showing a selection of industry conferences and when during the year they’re held

What do I keep?“How conferences help you build your skills.”

How exactly do I display my content?

Text

Communicating with graphs

Jan Mar May Jul Sep

Nov012345678

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Types of graphsHow I spend my day

WorkingSleepingRelaxingFighting zombiesCommuting

Type: Pie

Best Suited For:Showing the portions of a whole.

Capturing a moment of time

Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri0

10

20

30

40

50

Time spent shooting zombies (in minutes)

Type: Bar/Column

Best Suited For:Comparing different items/categories

Showing changes over time

Mon Tues Wed

Thurs Fri

02468

101214

Zombie Kills Per Day

ElenaGinnyWayne

Type: Stacked Bar/Column

Best Suited For:Comparing different categories while also showing the components of each category

Mon Tues Wed

Thurs Fri

012345

Distance Fled Per Day From Zombies (in km)

YsabetDanaJason

Type: Line

Best Suited For:Showing results over time.

Comparing the results from several sources over time

02468

10

Canadian Zombie Repellant Sales

Groan-B-GoneWD-ZombieRaid Zombie Spray

Axis Title

Axis Title

Type: Scatter

Best Suited For:Showing patterns between two variables throughout a large number of data points.

Jun Dec

Uni

ts S

old

(in

mill

ions

)

Type: Bubble

Best Suited For:Showing patterns between three variables throughout a large number of data points.0 1 2 3 4 5 60

51015

City Infection Rates This Year

(circle size indicates population)

Axis Title

Axis Title

Leng

th o

f Tim

e C

ity H

as B

een

Infe

cted

(in

mon

ths)

People Infected (In millions)

A

BC

D

E

Misleading information

Type 1

Type 2

02468

10

Missing and Confusing

Labels

A B C DComparing Brands Over Time

Choosing the Wrong Graph

Type

Type 1

EDCBA

Inconsistent or Misleading

Design

2468

10

15

20

25

Tim

e on

the

jo

b

Other ways to show information

Text

Titles Here’s a bunch of text that gives this infographic more context

“Adding a related quote here”

90%

Some info about this statistic

55%

Some info about this statistic

73%

Some info about this statistic Type 1 Type 2 Type 3 Type 4

0246

Some text to explain why this graph is important

Images 90%

55%

Don’t know what that

means

73%

Aren’t sure why they

should careWant to run

awayMapsColour

When asked what drink was their favourite, the 14 surveyed

customers replied…

Coffee

Tea

Pop

Water

Juice

Cite your sources!

Infographic credit: http://infographiccommons.com/view/could-samsung-take-down-apple.html

Favourite pizza toppingsArtichoke

Bacon

Chicken

Extra Cheese

Extra Sauce

Garlic

Green Pepper

Ground Beef

Ham

Mushrooms

Olives

Onions

Pepperoni

Pineapple

Potato

Salami

Spinach

What isn’t working?During a recent survey, participants

replied:1-100

101-200

201-300

301-500

501-700

750-1000

What should it look like?

vs

Committing to the right aesthetic

Colour Scheme

Main Colours Main Colours Main Colours Main Colours

Picking the right fonts

Keeping everything from looking

cramped

Contact & license info

Infographic credit: http://infographiccommons.com/view/tedtalks-info.html

What isn’t working?

How can I find out more?

Hmm… tell me more!

Books

White Space is Not Your EnemyKim Golombisky Rebecca Hagen

Cool Infographic

sRandy Krum

Information is Beautiful

andThe Visual

MiscellaneumDavid McCandless

Websites that show great infographics

www.informationisbeautiful.netwww.coolinfographics.comvisual.ly

Tools for creating your own

visual.lyInfogr.amPowerPoint

http://biancawoods.weebly.com/infographics.html

http://e-geeking.blogspot.ca

@eGeeking

Additional Resources