infographics

infographics
Sameboat · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Name	Infographics
Type	Visual communication
Invented	Ancient cartography and manuscript illumination
Inventor	Multiple cultures
Usage	Data presentation, journalism, education

infographics Infographics are visual representations that combine visual elements, typography, and data to communicate information efficiently. They distill complex material for audiences associated with New York City, London, Paris, Beijing, and Tokyo through visual narratives used by organizations such as The New York Times, BBC, National Geographic, World Health Organization, and United Nations. Practitioners draw on methods refined in contexts like Renaissance, Enlightenment, Industrial Revolution, World War I, and World War II to inform contemporary practice.

Definition and purpose

Infographics serve to translate quantitative and qualitative content into visual forms that aid comprehension for readers of outlets like The Washington Post, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, Le Monde, and El País. They are employed by institutions such as Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Oxford University, and Cambridge University to support pedagogy, by companies like Apple Inc., Google, Microsoft, Adobe Systems, and IBM for product communication, and by agencies including United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, European Commission, World Bank, International Monetary Fund to present policy data. The purpose includes revealing patterns for audiences of Time (magazine), The Economist, Bloomberg, Reuters, and Al Jazeera.

History and evolution

Visual information traces to artifacts from the Babylonian Empire, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Roman Empire, and Song dynasty cartography traditions. Early examples include illuminated manuscripts in Medieval Europe, navigational charts tied to Age of Discovery voyages sponsored by Spanish Empire, Portuguese Empire, and Dutch Republic, and statistical graphics developed by figures such as William Playfair, John Snow (physician), Florence Nightingale, Charles Joseph Minard, and Émile Durkheim. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries saw advances linked to Industrial Revolution production, typographic innovations in Bauhaus, information design in World War I propaganda by states like United Kingdom, Germany, and United States, and wartime visualizations during World War II. The digital turn accelerated with companies like Apple Inc., Adobe Systems, Microsoft, Facebook, and Google enabling new interactive formats.

Types and formats

Formats include static printed visuals used by publications such as National Geographic, Scientific American, and Smithsonian Institution; interactive web graphics on platforms like The New York Times, The Guardian, FiveThirtyEight, ProPublica, and Vox; animated sequences deployed by studios like BBC Studios, Netflix, HBO, Pixar, and Walt Disney Studios; and spatial displays in museums such as Smithsonian Institution, Louvre, British Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Victoria and Albert Museum. Specialized forms appear in arenas including electoral maps for United States presidential election, 2020, epidemiological charts for COVID-19 pandemic, climate visualizations associated with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and financial dashboards used by firms like Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and BlackRock.

Design principles and components

Core components—typography, color, layout, icons, charts—are informed by traditions from Bauhaus, graphic theorists influenced by Paul Rand, Herbert Bayer, Jan Tschichold, Milton Glaser, and Saul Bass. Effective design follows principles championed in institutions such as Royal College of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Cooper Union, Yale School of Art, and Design Museum: clarity, hierarchy, accuracy, context, and accessibility for standards referenced by organizations like W3C, ISO, American Institute of Graphic Arts, and National Institute of Standards and Technology. Components draw on chart types like bar, line, scatter used historically by William Playfair and map symbology originating in Ordnance Survey and U.S. Geological Survey practice.

Creation tools and techniques

Creation employs software from companies such as Adobe Systems (Illustrator, Photoshop), Microsoft (PowerPoint), Autodesk, Tableau Software, Qlik, Esri, and Google (Charts, Data Studio), alongside programming libraries like D3.js developed by researchers linked to Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Techniques incorporate statistical methods from scholars at University of Chicago, London School of Economics, Princeton University, Columbia University, and University of California, Berkeley and workflows integrating research from archives like Library of Congress, British Library, and Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Applications and use cases

Use cases span journalism at outlets such as The New York Times, The Guardian, El País, Le Monde, and Der Spiegel; education in schools overseen by ministries in France, Germany, United Kingdom, United States, and Japan; public health reporting by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, Médecins Sans Frontières, Red Cross, and UNICEF; business analytics at firms like McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, Deloitte, PwC, and EY; and civic engagement campaigns run by organizations such as Amnesty International, Greenpeace, Human Rights Watch, Oxfam, and International Committee of the Red Cross.

Criticism and ethical considerations

Critics from venues like The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Salon, The Intercept, and ProPublica highlight risks of misleading graphics linked to cases involving outlets such as Fox News, CNN, Breitbart News, Russia Today, and Al Jazeera. Ethical debates engage scholars at Harvard Kennedy School, Annenberg School for Communication, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, University of Oxford, and University of Cambridge over issues of data provenance, consent, bias, and representation in analyses tied to events like 2008 financial crisis, COVID-19 pandemic, Syrian Civil War, European migrant crisis, and climate change. Standards and codes are promoted by bodies such as International Federation of Journalists, World Association of Newspapers, Institute for Public Relations, and Association for Computing Machinery.

Category:Visual communication