Think about all the content we consume everyday and how it is being presented — it can be in printed, digital or video format.
Generally, we may come out with the questions like:

• What type of content it is?
• What type of content and information we recall the most?
• What type of content engages us the most?
  

By finding answers to these questions, we can clearly conclude that the content that stands out, engages and memorable, are highly visual. Yes, now it is the age of ‘infographics’.

What are Infographics?
It is a digital, artistic representation of data and information that combines to tell a story. It is basically information that is communicated through visuals. Infographics are intended to present complex data in a simple and clear way that is instantly understandable. It is so effective because it is easy to understand and in the form of a visual.

Why Visuals Communicate Better?

• Approximately 65% of humans are visual learners and 90% of information absorbed by the human brain is through visuals.*
• People recollect 80% of what they see, 10% of what they hear and 20% of what they read.
• Because 40% of all our nerve fibers connected to the brain are linked to the retina, our human brain is able to process images simultaneously rather than the sequential method what we use for words.
• Human brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than text.
• Colors in visuals increase the willingness to read, motivate and participate by 80%.
• Schools using visual aids have proved to improve learning by 400%.
  
  

Information courtesy: ssrn.com/; ernestoolivares.com

Demand for Infographics
Nowadays, only 8 seconds are there to catch your client’s attention before they move on to the big thing; and now that’s not long right? If people use the outdated marketing techniques to promote business, definitely they will suffer.
Infographics are the best way to instantly grab audience attention. Reading is complex and slow, while visual scenes are processed in less than 0.01 seconds. In order to improve the communication and build up trust between a business and the customers, infographics are the right way for everyone.
Also, in the recent years, with the entry of big data, infographics are going viral all over the world. Such a demand is there because they provide global coverage that print media can accomplish. They might take an additional effort to create, but they will take little effort to be understood by people.

Infographic’s Travel from Ancient Times to Digital Era
Actually, presenting a visual content is nothing new to us. Think about the drawings in cave walls and hieroglyphs in ancient Egypt. It represented letters, words and even full sentences with just images. On the other side, maps are also infographics.

Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs

The 1600s were a time for cartographers. Those mapmakers put the world into detailed visual layouts. It was also the time when icons and objects were used to identify locations.
The first instances of infographics, as Data Visual Display (as we all know them today), days back to the late 1700s when charts for product prices and wages for the labors were used.
Then came the graphics, pie charts and bar graphs. They were invented by William Playfair, might be in the history called as “Father of Modern Day Infographics”. His inventions became the key tools in infographics for data visualizing. In the 19th century, pie charts, graphs and 3D visuals were popular in newspaper print.
In 1972, set of pictograms were created for Olympic sports posters. Those figures were later used as a basis for public signs that we now use as visual nouns to represent things like bathrooms, phone and petrol filling stations. This is the first modern example of icons that are influential in infographics creation today.

Olympics Pictograms

Visual Nouns

From 2014 to present day, infographics are used in classrooms, businesses and online to educate, entertain and engage people. Infographics allow us to tell more about the complete story of a data and are more engaging than most traditional ways of communicating data and information.

Types of Infographics
Infographics categories into Mixed Charts, Timeline, How To, Comparison, Process Flow, Geographic, Photographic (using photos), Hierarchical, Single Chart, Visualized Numbers (statistical), Visual Resume, Anatomical, and Informational.

Creating Infographics
The focus of a good infographic is always on communicating the insights. Key is to translate raw data into easy visuals for better understanding. There are lot of other phrase and terms used around infographics like Data Visualization, Information Design and Communication Design. It’s all about any graphics that display and explains information, whether it can be data or words.
Creating infographics requires a certain expertise. Text, Data and images or photos are the main components of infographics besides, colors, shapes and data structure. All these components need to be considered while designing an infographic. The different steps involved in creating an infographic are:

• Research
• Brainstorm
• Design
• Review
• Publish and Share

• Maintain a structure
• Don’t use more than three colors
• Watch out on the typography used
• Include source and references in the footer

Sample Process Infographic on ‘Design Project Pipeline’, by Kesavaraj B.Sc. MM 2013 Batch – ICAT Design and Media College

Image Source: freepik.com; rapidboostmarketing.com; vtmag.vt.edu; mediamadegreat.com;wgsn.com