An infographic is a graphic way of depicting a story or data in a visually pleasing manner. Usually, they are vertically designed with three or more points of interesting data. Infographics are usually 600 pixels wide and 1800 pixels long. Some people have tried horizontal infographics but mostly they are vertical because that is how people tend to read things on the internet, especially on mobiles. So, why are infographics so popular?
In the field of knowledge visualisation, Cognitive Media have helped non-profit organisation, The RSA, animate cutting edge talks by leading thought leaders in the world. View some videos of these incredibly successful and popular ‘animated infographics’ in action.
We are visual creatures
Humans eyes love to see color, movement, and visual material more than they love to see text. Our eyes are drawn to beautiful imagery, and infographics make it easy to provide that eye candy your audience is looking for.
Technology makes it affordable
Almost anyone can create lovely graphics and infographics today without professional help. Try using an online app like Piktochart or Canva to make your own infographics.
We process images faster than text
Think about road signs. If you’re driving down a road and see a sign that indicates falling rocks or slippery when wet, you know exactly what it means in an instant. But, if you have to read the words, these take as long to process as one image.
Infographics help break up the information
Our senses are constantly being bombarded with information and itís hard for our brains to take a moment and digest everything that is thrown at us. An infographic allows your brain to take a break and digest the meaning of something before moving on.
Readers skip too much
The truth is, when someone reads your blog posts, they’re likely skipping a lot. People tend to skim vertically on the internet and they miss out on a lot of information that way. If you have something important to convey, providing it in an easy to skim format helps.
Color visuals draw interest
Even adding a picture or two to a blog post increases the amount that is read, so it goes to logic that a post full of images and less text will be read more and understood more than a full-on text blog post.
It makes directions more understandable
Have you ever tried to follow directions in a recipe without images? It can be hard. That’s why cookbooks often come with lots of pictures and images. It helps us follow directions better. An infographic will help your audience comprehend what youíre telling them better because even better than pictures is text with pictures.
Makes your information more trustworthy
When people see images with the textual information, they tend to believe it more and think it is more trustworthy than if they just see the text alone, probably you are helping them visualise it in their heads.
Infographics are popular for the simple reason is that they work well to spread awareness, get links back to your website, and convey an idea in a way that your audience can understand. If you’ve never created an infographic, take some time to think of your story and the points you want to get across before you start.