THIS IS NOT ANINFOGRAPHIC

Does this ➡ look familiar?

The slender frame, the vibrant colors, the bold

font face, the gratuitous illustrations, the blocks of text, the callouts, the

big numbers, the graphs and diagrams...

Looks like an infographic. You know, one of these things that have taken the internet by storm and seem to reproduce at a geometric rate?

Let’s not call it that.

AMOUNT OF THIS BEING AN

INFOGRAPHIC

100%

AMOUNT OF THIS BEING

SOMETHING ELSE

There is good reason to call the things we witness on the internet New Media. The ways we display and have users interact with information in digital media are still evolving. g

Naturally some innovations in the process of exploring the potential of New Media involve a certain amount of style over substance.

TIME

MEANS OF DISPLAYING

INFORMATION

TIME

USEFULMEANS OF

DISPLAYINGINFORMATION

Infographics should never fall in that category.

PEOPLE WHO THINK THIS IS A VENN DIAGRAM

PEOPLE WHO THINK THIS IS NOT A VENN DIAGRAM

∅?*

ME*

A liberal use of diagrams and makeshift data visualization does not an infographic make. Veracity is key there.

Instead of merely condemning sub par information design, let us acknowledge that where there is a trend people are drawn to, there is a reason for this to happen: People enjoy consuming information presented to them in certain ways. g

What about this ➡ then?

Text based information is displayed in bite sized chunks and arranged along a visual axis that is enhanced through graphic design elements.

The scrolling habits of people using their browsers have probably led to the widespread prominence of a vertical axis in these things.

Bits of simple data visualisation like charts, bar graphs and diagrams put numbers into perspective. Color schemes, eye catching typography and decorative illustrations lend stickyness for lack of a narrative cohesiveness. It’s the fast food equivalent of information design and it’s perfectly apt to satisfy fleeting attention spans, so why not put it to use? fd

SO... IS THIS AN INFOGRAPHIC?COULD ANYBODY HAVE CREATED THIS?

IS IT SOMETHING USEFUL?

NO.YES.

IT DEPENDS.

I rather enjoy some examples of this, especially the humorous kind. But I’d like to point out that these things are not good examples of information design. Not when you want to be able to communicate clearly and condense data or information in a meaningful way.

That is why I’d rather not call them infographics.

So you can call this whatever you like.

YOU CAN ALSO USE IT HOWEVER YOU SEE FIT, BTW.

*

*

SOURCES?MAY I REPURPOSE AND DISTRIBUTE THIS?

THE GAME?EXPLORING MEANING IN COMMUNICATION?

YES.YES.

YES.YES.

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