INFOGRAPHICSFOREDUCATION

CRITICALRACEINITIATIVE

UNIVERSITYOFMARYLAND

COLLEGEPARK,MD

SUMMARY

• Whatareinfographicsandwhydotheymatterforeducation?

• HowdoIpreparetomakeanInfographic?

• WhattoolsdoIneedtomakeanInfographic?

• WhatarethefirststepstocreatinganInfographic?

• HowdoIgettoacompletedinfographic?

• Whatarebestpracticesforinfographicsasaformofpublicengagement?

WHATAREINFOGRAPHICS?WHYDOINFOGRAPHICSMATTERFOREDUCATION?

INFOGRAPHICSARESNAPSHOTSOFINFORMATION

• Infographicsarevisualrepresentationsofknowledgethatmakeuseofinformationanddatainadditiontographics

• Infographicshaveuseinawiderangeoffieldsincludingbusiness,publichealth,andevenacademia

• Infographicsthatrelyonacademicjournalarticles,books,orreportsfortheirinformationmakecomplicatedwritingaccessibletoallreaders

• Infographicscomeinmultipleformats:print,digital,andevenvideo.Thesemultipleformatsprovideawayofsharingresearcheasilyacrossawiderangeofplatforms

• Infographicsareaninnovativewaytoengagewithwrittenmaterialasaformofnotesaskingidealforthevisuallearner

PREPARATIONFORINFOGRAPHICCREATIONBRINGTHEDATA

INFOGRAPHICSREQUIRE:

• DataorInformation• Thisistheknowledge/insightyourInfographiccommunicates

• Wireframe• ThisistheoutlinethatwillguideyoutoyourfinalInfographic

• HereyouwilldecidethedimensionsofyourInfographic• Trydifferenttypesofsizes.Startwith600pxwideand2000pxtallifuncertain

• Title• Thisishowyouappealtoreaders

• Citation• Thisiswhereyougivecreditwherecreditisdue

• Visuals• Colors

• GraphicsImageCredit:Pinterest

DATASOURCES• Createyourowndataset

• Forexamples• TheAmericanFactFinder:http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml• GooglePublicData:https://www.google.com/publicdata/directory

• Recreateadatasetfromanacademicarticle• UseGoogleScholar,JSTOR,andotheronlinedatabases.• ALWAYSciteyoursources

• Summarizefindingsinanacademicarticlesorbooks• Focusonresearchquestions,findings,andconclusions• Alwaysrecreateimagesorgraphsfoundinoriginalarticlesunlesstheauthor

permitsyoutousethem.• ALWAYSciteyoursources

PROGRAMSFORINFOGRAPHICPRODUCTIONUSEGRAPHICDESIGNORONLINEPROGRAMS

TYPESOFPROGRAMS

FreeOnlinePrograms

• Piktochart :https://piktochart.com

• Providesover400templatesandotherfeatureslikeiconsandimages.

• ProvidesdatavisualactionstoolsforExcel,GoogleSpreadsheetandsurveymonkey

• Nographicdesignexperiencenecessary

• GIMP:http://www.gimp.org

• Imageeditorthatallows3rdpartypluginstoenhanceoptions

• Comeswithdocumentation,tutorials,andcanbeusedtomakemorethaninfographicsalone.

• Similartotoolsforpurchase

ProgramsforPurchase

• AdobeIllustrator - mostpopularhttp://www.adobe.com/products/illustrator.html

• AutodeskGraphics(Appleproductsonly)

• CorelDraw(Windowsonly)

TOOLSNEEDEDINGRAPHICEDITINGPROGRAMS

Youwillmostfrequentlyuse:

• Selectiontool

• Directselection

• TypingTool

• Rectangle

• LineSegment

• Fill

• Stroke

• Eyedropper

• Insertimage(notpictured)

EXAMPLES• Useexistinginfographicsasdesignguides• http://infographic-directory.com/about/

• Pinterest• Search‘infographics’+thewordforwhich

topicyou’reinterested

• TwitterorMedium• Searchfor‘infographic’toseemostrecent

• Governmentwebsites• CDC:ZikaVirus

• Whitehouse:Tonsofoptions

• NOAA:Tonsofoptions

ImageCredit:BaltimoreBrew

PLANNINGTHEINFOGRAPHICUSINGWIREFRAMESANDTEMPLATES

COLLECTINGYOURDATA

• Yourinfographicshouldhavethefollowingkeypiecesofinformation:

• ResearchQuestion(s)

• Method(s)

• Results/Findings

• Conclusion

• Discussion

• Createabriefoutlinethatwillgiveyouanideaofwhatyouwillincludeintheinfographic

YOURINFOGRAPHICNEEDSATLEASTFOUR

LAYERS

• Background• Placecolorsforyourbackground+frame

• Text• Placelayerabovebackground+yourshape/images

layer• Usetexttooltoinserttextwhereyouprefer

• BrandingLayer• Placethesourceinformationhere• Placecopyrightinformationhere• Placebrandorpersonalnamehere• Shouldbeattheendofyourinfographicinsize12

fontorsmaller• Shapes/images

• Placeaboveyourbackgroundlayerbutbelowyourtextlayer

• Insertimageshereaswellasshapesyoucreatewiththevarioustools

LAYERSADDDEPTHTOYOURVISUAL

WIREFRAMING

ImageCredit:TheDailyEgg

• Theskeletonofvisualthatyoubuildyourinfographic• Makealayoutsimilartotherighttogiveyourselfa

generalideaofwhereyouwilllayyourcontent

• Chooseimagesandshapes• Willyourfeaturemostlyrectangles?Circles?Stars?

Decideonthemandplaceanoteofthemonthewireframe

• Decidetheamountofspaceeachpieceofcontentwilltake

• WriteOut:• Title• Source +copyrightinformation• Notesofwhatwillgoineachsection

CREATINGTHEINFOGRAPHICHOWTOGOFORWIREFRAMETOFINISHEDPRODUCT

GETTINGTOTHEFINISHEDPRODUCT

• Addyourwireframeasalayerthatyouwillrefertoasyouconstructanddeletelater

• Startwithacolorscheme• Usewebsiteslikehttp://www.color-hex.com tomakesureyourcolorsare

complementary

• Selectafontthatyouwillkeepuniformthroughouttheinfographic• Weightthetextdependingonitsemphasis

• Nextfillinthecolorsofyourshapesandplaceyourimages

• Lastly,fillinyourtextincludingyourcitationandcopyrightinformation

ImageCredit:EmeraldGroupPublishing

TOREMEMBER

• UseYouTube,Ask.com,etc.fortutorialsongraphicdesignprograms• Neverplagiarize

• Alwaysciteyoursources

• Keepcolorschemesandfontsuniform• Solidcolorsaremoreappealingthatpatterns

• Forimagesandartwork,alwayscreateoriginalcontentorusewithpermissionoforiginalcreator

• Infographicstakealongtimetocreate.Paceyourself,takebreaks,andifyoudesire,startoverfresh

• Practicemakesperfect

INFOGRAPHICSFORPUBLICENGAGEMENTHOWTOAMPLIFYYOURINFLUENCE

SOCIALMEDIA

• WheretoShare

• Pinterest

• Twitter

• Instagram

• Flickr

• Imgur

• Google+

• Facebook

• Blogsandforumsspecifictoyourfield

• Emailnewsletter

• Includeagalleryofinfographicsonyourpersonalwebsite

• Whattoshare

• Useahashtagrelevanttotheresearchintheinfographic

• Ashortcaption

• TheinfographicitselfasaPNGfileoptimizedforwebandJPGforallelse

• Mentionthecreatorsofyoursource/dataiftheyhavesocialmedia

• Yourcontactinformation

TRADITIONALMEDIA

• Includeaninfographicwithapressreleaseorpitchtomainstreamnewsoutletstoadvertiseyourwork

• Offeryourinfographictobeprintedinmagazinesornewspapers

• Goingtogiveononairinterview?Provideyourinfographicasacutawayimage

PUBLICIZINGINACADEMIA

• Shareyourinfographicwithpopularblogsinyourfield

• Doingatalkoraconference?Handoutyourinfographictoaudiencemembers

• Createinfographicsforotheracademics.Shareyourworkwiththemandgetfeedback.

• Includeyourinfographicsinyourteachingmaterials

• Shareyourinfographic(andarticle)withacademicswhomightfindyourworkinteresting

RESOURCES

• InfographicsforDummies

• Lynda.com

• AdobeCreativeCloudDesignToolsAll-in-OneForDummies

• Howtocreateinfographics

• Howdoyoucreateinfographics?

Herearesomeoptionstogetyoustartedlearningaboutinfographicsandgraphicdesign

ANYMOREQUESTIONS?

• ContactMelissaBrownathttp://www.blackfeminisms.com/about/contact-me/ withanycommentsorquestions