When you need to present data to a broad and general audience, we believe that infographics are your best bet. A great example of when this might be the case is if you are creating an annual impact report aimed at your business’ stakeholders, as opposed to a financial report that might be delivered to a smaller group of specialists and shareholders. Infographics are accessible, quick, and easy to absorb. They are sharable, can transcend language barriers, and are more memorable than numbers or text alone. If you want your facts and figures to hit home, then opt for an infographic.
What is an Infographic?
An infographic is a graphical or pictorial representation of information. Rather than using text or graphs and charts, an infographic will be designed to deliver data in a concise and visually engaging way. An infographic could be a small illustration used to communicate a single piece of information, or a large and more complicated graphic featuring multiple different messages intended to be used as a poster.
Why Use Infographics?
It is often incorrectly claimed that “approximately 65% of the population are visual learners” (compared to 30% who are auditory learners and 5% who are kinaesthetic learners). The reality is that everyone is a visual learner (because almost all of us process information through our eyes, the exception being those with a visual impairment). Studies in the educational sector have found that learners respond to visual information significantly faster than text-only materials. Therefore it makes sense that if you are presenting data and have the resources, an infographic is a preferable option to text or a table.
Things to Consider When Commissioning an Infographic
- Infographics are designed to make data beautiful—and easy to digest – but you need to know which facts and figures are going to have the most impact on your audience. Reduce the amount of unnecessary information, so the important things are clear. What do you need to say and what can you do without?
- What is the story and information you are trying to tell?
- Who is your audience and how would they interact with the infographic?
- Consider and specify the desired tone – playful or serious, scientific or more widely accessible.
- How simple or complex do you want the infographic to be?
- Infographics take time to design and illustrate. Having your content as close to being approved as possible prior to the design commencing is really helpful and can save costs being incurred from multiple rounds of amends. We know that until you have seen your first draft of what your infographic could look like it might be hard to imagine and that when you first see the concept you might wish to do some extensive rethinking. That’s ok but being prepared is part of the journey.
- A designer will use set colours to highlight key information to make an infographic easier to understand. Be sure to specify your brand colours, but do also check contrast and accessibility for inclusivity, especially on any detail work.
- Which platforms do you want your infographic to appear on? Different platforms display in different ways, so consider where your primary audience is. Infographics can be designed for print and digital.
- Question WHY you are using an infographic. Will it do what you need it to do? With more complex infographics it can be a large budget investment and will it give you the ROI you were looking for?
This post is part of the Impact Reporting series from Leap.