“Excellence in the display of information is a lot like clear thinking.” Edward Tufte, 1942– Designer, Publisher, Educator

Prepared by Danielle Oser, APR

First printed weather map

Halftone printing was responsible for the first daily weather map which was printed in the New York Daily Graphic

Sumerians were the first civilization to use infographics Chinese were the first to use detailed maps

• William Playfair

Founder of infographics with the creation of the chart

Plotting the deaths helped to determine the cause of the outbreak – a water pump

Charles Minard infographic pioneer

Maps are the chief infographic in wartime

• Help Explain Wars

Newspaper editors in the 1980s increased their weather coverage after seeing the popularity of the USA Today Weather Map

Convert Number to Pictures

Presents information in orderly rows and columns

• Misleading Visual Presentations

Chart Not Zero-based

• Misleading Visual Presentations

Zero-based Chart

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/politics/presidential-poll-tracker

Arrange data into pleasing aesthetics

John Venn

Non-statisical information graphic that should be used to represent three or fewer elements

http://www.nixlog.com/infographics

Presents key story points and a quick synopsis

• Chart Junk

If online, click screen for link.

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/

Presents geographic information in a simplified manner

One of the least respected types of infographic

Series of steps, or the structure of an organization

http://gerdarntz.org/isotype

Least factual form of infographic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEheh1BH34Q&feature=related

Sliding Photo Effects

Word Clouds

More emphasis on design than content

Increased Use

http://gizmodo.com/the-best-data-visualizations-of-2013-1485611407

http://visual.ly/ http://www.easel.ly/ http://infogr.am/

Apply a journalist’s code of ethics - An infographic starts with a great data set. Even if you’re not a journalist — but an advertiser or independent contractor, say — you need to represent the data ethically in order to preserve your credibility with your audience. Don’t source from blogs. Don’t source from Wikipedia. Don’t misrepresent your data with images.

Find the story in the data - There’s a popular misconception that creating a great infographic just requires hiring a great graphic designer. But even the best designer can only do so much with poor material. Mapping out the key points in your narrative should be the first order of business. “The most accessible graphics we’ve ever done are the ones that tell a story. It should have an arc, a climax and a conclusion,” Langille says. When you find a great data set, mock up your visualization first and figure out what you want to say, before contacting a designer.

Make it mobile and personal - As the media becomes more sophisticated, designers are developing non-static infographics. An interactive infographic might seem pretty “sexy,” Langille says, but it’s much less shareable. A video infographic, on the other hand, is both interactive and easy to port from site to site. Another way to involve readers is to create a graphic that allows them to input and share their own information.

http://www.wired.com/design/2012/07/you-suck-at-infographics/