If you are like me, on some days you may feel like you are drowning in information. Speaking for myself, this feeling leads to me filtering much of the information that comes my way, whether I’m conscious of it or not. Do I need it? Is it relevant to me?
We scan Facebook posts, news and emails for interest or to see how these news bites might relate to our lives. Is it about a person or place or issue we connect to? More often than not, if that thing is something you can’t relate to, out it goes.
While we have more and more access to data on the world around us, we sometimes don’t have the mental bandwidth to absorb it all. Enter infographics whose very role is to simplify data, making it easier for audiences to digest the information. The very best infographics will tell a story through a well-thought out combination of visuals/graphics, numbers and limited text.
Infographics have skyrocketed in popularity as communicators are becoming more and more creative with how to use them in social media, in research reports and more to communicate data and impact in clear and engaging ways to donors, policy makers and others.
Science tells us something else that may help explain the popularity of infographics. Studies have shown that comprehension and retention goes up when we see words and pictures together. Infographics are exactly that: stories in miniature, data and pictures put together.
But not all picture and word combinations are created equal. Resource Media staff have looked at the good, the bad and the ugly and have developed an infographic development process that will help you go from good to great.
Go here to download our tipsheet with our five-step process for creating infographics that will help you show and tell your story.
And, while Resource Media typically utilizes professional graphic designers in the creation of our infographics, there are a number of programs online that can generate infographics, including Infogr.am, for which we have created a step-by-step tutorial which you can download here.
