Infographic
From Learning and training wiki
{{Term|INFOGRAPHIC|Blend of the words ‘information’ and ‘graphic’, the term indicates a visual representation of complex data or concepts through images, colours, graphs and illustrations. They are designed to make large amounts of complex data understandable ‘at a glance’; in fact, the visual element enhances the decoding and retention of the message. Well-designed infographics have perceptual, motivational, and cognitive characteristics that make them exceptionally valuable for instructional content, including improving:
- clarity and conciseness
- ability to make sense of complex information
- focus on key information
- engagement
- ease of remembering.
This type of visual representation is used worldwide in every discipline and many examples can be found in our everyday environment, from street signs and underground maps, to weather charts and newspaper articles.
Types of infographics
Traditionally, visualizations have included charts, maps or diagrams. Nowadays, infographics implement these elements with a creative and imaginative use of colorful icons and illustrations. There are several inspiring types of infographics; below are listed some of the most popular formats accessible online.
- Timelines (see example);
- Flowcharts (see example);
- Annotated maps (see example);
- Pie and line charts (see example);
- Diagrams (Venn, networks) (see example);
- Size comparisons (see example);
- Typographic (where typefaces are used to create an image, see example).
{{Tool|Designing an effective infographic|
Overview of online tools for creating infographics Provided below is an overview of the most popular online tools currently available to create infographics from different templates and customizable elements. Some of these tools come in two versions – free and proprietary. In general, free versions allow users, upon registration, to use basic templates and a limited set of graphic elements to create their infographic. Proprietary versions allow users to access a wider set of templates and functionalities.
| Tool | Specialization | Description | Free/Proprietary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piktochart | Generic | With a set of professional design tools, Piktochart helps users in designing presentations. They can combine themes, shapes, icons, vectors, text, uploaded images and export charts. | Free version: it allows users to create simple and neat infographics based on 3 basic themes.
Paid version: contains a high-quality range of templates and customizable elements; features a Drag-and-drop system that lets users easily insert images, icons, charts and graphics. |
| Tableau Public | Generic | Desktop product that can be used to publish interactive data to the web. Once on the web, anyone can interact with the data, download it, or create their own visualizations from it. No programming skills are required. | Free |
| Google Public Data | Data sets | Service that lets users easily take public data -pulled from the US Census Bureau - and transform it into an infographic. Embedded charts and links can be updated automatically so users are always sharing the latest available data. | Free |
| Tableau Public | Generic | Desktop product that can be used to publish interactive data to the web. Once on the web, anyone can interact with the data, download it, or create their own visualizations from it. No programming skills are required. | Free |
| Many Eyes | Data sets | It consists of a collection of data visualizations that can be viewed, modified and discussed with other users. | Free version: visualizations can be created only from existing data sets.
Paid version: members can upload their own data. |
| Flux VFX | Video | It consists of a repository of templates created with Adobe After Effects that users can download. All photos/videos and text areas can be easily filled in with personal content. | Templates have to be paid for. |
| Stat Silk | Video | Tool for creating interactive maps using data available from their data sets. | Free |
| Hohli | Charts | Chart builder that allows the creation of a wide range of charts (e.g Venn diagrams, lines, bar and pie charts, scatter plots). | Free |
| Creately | Diagrams and charts | It lets users create diagrams and flow charts, which can be edited by multiple users at the same time thanks to its Online Collaboration feature. Available in two versions: online and desktop. | The desktop version needs a paying license.
Free online version: it offers a limited number of diagrams, users and collaborators. Paid online version: it allows group of people working on unlimited diagrams and projects. |
| Cacoo | Diagrams | Drawing tool that allows users to create a variety of diagrams (e.g. site maps, wire frames, UML and network charts) and collaborate online with other editors. One of its best features is that it can be associated to your Google+ account to share diagrams during a live video chat in Google+ Hangouts. | Free version: it allows exporting only into PNG format for a maximum of 25 sheets; shared folders and editors are limited.
Paid versions: more services are available, as unlimited shared folders and editors. |
| Vizify's Tweetsheet | Tool for monitoring Twitter activity. In a few seconds, it transforms a number of tweets, the most-retweeted posts, top followers, geographic impact and favorite themes into an infographic. | Free | |
| Wordle | Wordle cloud | “Word clouds” generator from texts that users provide. It is possible to personalize the clouds with different fonts, layouts and color schemes. Users can print images out, save them to the Wordle gallery to share with others or embed them into blogs and websites. | Free
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