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| It’s best leaving the design of an infographic to the experts. This infographic about infographics was created by San Francisco-based designer Ivan Cash. |
Infographics, the graphic visual representations of information, data or knowledge, have been around since the cavemen. Back then, they were coined hieroglyphics. But seriously, most PR pros associate infographics with media relations and USA Today. Landing an organization a spot on the paper’s page 1 “Snapshot” infographic remains the Holy Grail of media relations.
But today it’s not just about Today. Communicators are creating their own infographics around any type of data they’d like to disseminate.
This makes dull, droll survey findings and other data much more compelling and easier for the target audience to digest.
Zubin Mowlavi, president and CEO of Lucid Fusion, an interactive agency in Irvine, Calif., is bullish on infographics, as the company creates them not only for clients, but for its own marketing efforts as well.
What makes an infographic so compelling for Mowlavi? “We all want to feel that we have the right data,” he says. “With infographics you have that knowledge, and there’s something to be said about the pleasure you get from the visual engagement.”
But there has to be a process for creating good infographics, and here’s Lucid Fusion’s:
1. Data gathering: Are you interviewing to obtain information, or is it from a study? What does this info really mean?
2. Determine the target audience: What is their level of knowledge od expertise? “Often audiences are multicultural, so you need to take that into consideration,” says Mowlavi.
3. Know what you want to convey: An infographic that’s meaningful goes beyond just the numbers. So decide what message will go along with the infographic.
4. Sketch and wireframe: “At the wireframe (a low-fi representation of a digital design) stage you can experiment with groupings, color and an overall style,” says Mowlavi.
Whether staying in-house or having an outside shop create your masterpiece, Mowlavi has two critical suggestions: Keep the design simple and uncluttered, and make sure your data is accurate.
Accuracy is also No. 1 on Frank Walton’s list for a great infographic. Walton, chief performance officer at RF Binder & Partners, is a huge proponent of the infographic, and knows them well from his work presenting data from Institute for PR’s measurement studies.
Here are Walton’s tips for creating a great infographic:
• Do No Harm. We all have seen charts or graphs that are ambiguous or do not seem to support what they claim. Creating effective—and accurate and honest—infographics requires the same kind of self-critical, disciplined thinking we put into good writing.
• Select. No one image can fully represent all the details and implications of complex quantitative data. A good infographic should act as an inviting entrance point to a story that is deeper, more detailed, and more nuanced than the graphic itself.
• Don’t Do It Yourself (Probably). Respect the talents and craft of good design. You don’t have to hire the highest-end graphic identity firm to produce infographics, but you should work with someone who has had some training and experience in designing them. PRN
CONTACT:
Zubin Mowlavi, [email protected]; Frank Walton, [email protected].