Pylon Sounds

Guest Post by John Pring

For many, infographics are a relatively new phenomenon; we still get calls and enquiries from businesses and individuals who have ‘just discovered infographics’ and are looking to take advantage of the format. Similarly, many people who have seen the surge in popularity of a certain kind of data visualization consider infographics to be something of a ‘fad’ – an opinion usually formed by the combination of online proliferation of the term and the overuse of the format by SEO agencies as a link-building technique (just go to any SEO conference and you’ll be almost guaranteed to hear someone refer to infographics as a short-term trend that has already reached saturation point).

However, the truth is that infographics are by no means a new concept and they’re certainly not a fad that will disappear anytime soon (although I will concede that the general public will begin seeing a lot less of them once the SEO industry moves onto a new tactic for gaining inbound links to client sites).

Infographics and data visualizations have been around for thousands of years, even pre-dating the written language in the form of cave paintings from 30,000 BC, used to depict local resources and allow for visual records to be kept. Similarly, the Egyptians used hieroglyphs to tell stories about their culture, allowing future generations to learn a considerable amount about the Egyptian social structure and belief system. 

Example of a 30,000BC cave painting used as an inventory for crops

(By the way, just to address a common question there is a difference between data visualization and infographics, but clarifying the distinction here isn’t a major concern). 

Infographics have been around as long as we’ve been communicating with other human beings, and will continue to play an important role in our social and economic interactions for generations to come – which covers my first point in the consideration of infographics as a ‘cool’ format; they’ve been with us for as long as we’ve existed, facilitating communication and storytelling in a way that other formats (even written language) can often struggle to match.

But there are a couple of other reasons I love the infographic format, reasons that I think elevate them not just into the realm of being cool, but being one of the single most important communication tools at the disposal of the human race. 

 

SOCIAL IMPORTANCE & TRANSLATION OF COMPLEX DATA

Infographics boast a level of social importance that rivals any other form of visual media; in fact, it’s fair to say (without any hint of hyperbole) that infographics have saved lives.

In 1857 Florence Nightingale produced a series of infographics called ‘Coxcomb Charts’, charting the different causes of soldier deaths during the Crimean War. 

Nightingale was concerned around the number of deaths caused by poor hospital conditions, and decided to visualize the data in order to present a more compelling case to Queen Victoria. The Queen was shocked to see the data presented in such a clear an impactful way and these visualizations directly contributed to the improvement of hospital conditions, saving countless lives.

It’s worth noting here that Queen Victoria already had the statistics regarding solider deaths due to unsanitary conditions at her disposal, but it wasn’t until she saw the data visualized in such a dramatic fashion that she realized the true impact of hospital conditions compared to all other causes of solider mortality.

An excellent example of how infographics play a significant role in our everyday lives would contemporary road signs, particularly those in the United Kingdom. 

These signs were developed in 1957 by Margaret Calvert and Jock Kinneir, combining information design and semiotics to produce simple, clear pictograms that can be easily understood (even while driving at speed). These signs were produced well over 50 years ago and are still in use today, demonstrating their effectiveness at portraying information through visual stimuli. 

In 2013, infographics are still playing an integral role in the social and political landscape – being used to both inform the general public of important information (for example the National Health Service in the UK used infographics to inform the general population of important changes to the way the health system worked) and to help inform decision makers at the top of the political spectrum. Data visualizations are regularly used to communicate complex statistical relationships to the government, helping them inform their decision-making and see patterns that would otherwise be extremely difficult to realize. 

One of the main ways infographics can achieve this is through the compression and translation of large amounts of complex data; an achievement that is only possible through visual representation. 

A fantastic example of this kind of data compression is the ‘Snake Oil’ interactive infographic produced by David McCandless and Andy Perkins in 2011: 

The infographic presents data from over 1500 placebo-controlled human trials to visualize the effectiveness of specific supplements on certain conditions. According to McCandless the data took 3 researchers months to gather and validate, yet this visualization takes all this data and compresses it into one easy to understand graphic. The ‘balloon race’ concept (i.e. the higher the bubble the greater the evidence for its effectiveness in treatments of specific conditions) allows the reader to bypass the months of data gathering and reading, yet gain the same level of understanding (in terms of the most important information) as someone who had undergone the research process.

 

EDUCATION

So we’ve looked at how infographics have pre-dated the written language, can save lives, portray important information in minimal time-frames, inform decision-makers, communicate important ideas to the general public and compress and translate huge, complex data sets. That should be more than enough to place infographics well and truly in the ‘cool’ column, but it doesn’t stop there; infographics are also one of the most effective educational tools we have at our disposal.

It’s now universally understood that the vast majority of us are visual learners, and there are numerous pieces of research that confirm the notion that information is easier to understand when displayed visually. This has obvious applications for education (whether it be primary school students or adult learners), but it’s not just comprehension that is improved by presenting information visually, as retention can also be improved dramatically.

0 0 1 10 62 InfoNewt 1 1 71 14.0 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}

Bandwidth of the Brain, courtesy of David McCandless and his TED talk 

The above visualization from David McCandless shows how we take in information in any given second – as you can see the vast majority of the information we take in from the outside world is absorbed via sight, making it our primary learning channel. This visual absorption means information displayed visually is far more likely to stick in our brains, making data retention and recall far more successful. 

So that’s it for my post on what makes infographics cool – and we didn’t even look at data organization (studies have shown that it’s easier to see patterns when data is displayed visually), the versatility of the infographic format (entertainment, link-building, education, business, sales tools, how-to guides, etc. etc.) abstract and schematic infographics (like Harry Beck’s London tube maps developed in 1933) or the fact that they’re hugely entertaining and far more engaging than traditional forms of communication and portraying data.

However, I will leave you with this. If none of the above convinces you that infographics are incredibly cool, then consider the plaque designed for the Pioneer space probe by Carl Sagan and Frank Drake: 

Even when it comes to trying to communicate with extra-terrestrials, one of the most potentially significant designs in human history, it’s an infographic we turn to. 

 

 

John Pring is the director of inbound marketing and content creation at Designbysoap Ltd; a UK-based design and marketing agency specializing in content development and distribution.

Over the last few years John has overseen the production of thousands of bespoke infographics, data visualizations and interactive graphics for clients all over the world, including the European Commission, the BBC, AOL, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Ford and numerous others.

 

 

LINKS

Designbysoap Ltd:  www.designbysoap.co.uk

Designbysoap Facebook Page

Twitter: @Designbysoap

 

You can imagine our surprise when Yvette was publicly accused of stealing someone else’s blog post in the comments of her own. Plagiarism is a fireable offense here. I won’t stand for it, nor do I want our clients to have to endure what the UPS Store did when they outsourced their content development.

You guys know I love a good vending machine, and while this one probably isn’t as cool as most of the ones we post here on Digital Buzz, it does get bonus points for being innovative for a standard machine,but also because the idea matches the message so perfectly. I think they may have gone [...] Related posts:

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It’s week three of our SMI ’13 conference ticket giveaway and what a creative lot you are. Last week’s question, ‘A world without Twitter is a world without…’ delivered a raft of smart responses. ‘Procrastination’ observed one entrant. ‘Immediacy’ said another. One person even said that a world without Twitter is a world without friendships. Aww!

This week, we want your thoughts on Facebook. If the networking giant could introduce any feature to its platform, what would you want it to be? Remember, the wittiest, most thought-provoking  or insightful responses will win a free pass to SMI’s 2013 conference, ‘360 Degrees of a Social Company‘.

To enter, tweet your response to us @socialinfluence using #SMI13Comp, post it on our Facebook page, or email our editor at Rachel@SocialMediaInfluence.com.

While content is obviously important, what is more important is the context it is provided in. A lot of successful entrepreneurs and marketers have shown us that in order to truly make the most out of digital marketing, it is imperative that firms are able to integrate technology with creativity.

Very recently in the UK, Spire Bushey Hospital in Watford used Twitter and Vine to tweet and video live surgery in the OR for educational purposes. Mr Aresh Hashemi-Nejad, an orthopaedic surgeon at Spire Bushey, performed a Periacetabular Osteotomy (PAO), a complex hip operation.

Amy’s Baking Company has been at the centre of one the biggest social media fails of all time. Can businesses recover from such huge social media fails? You simply cannot expect to speak to people like this and expect to quickly rekindle any iota of positive sentiment that may have existed before.

When it comes to branding, you can’t afford to make any mistakes. The slightest misstep will negatively impact public perception of your business, and it might take years to fully recover. Learn how to avoid the following five branding errors that continually plague small business owners.

This week sees the release of vukee M, a new app that allows photo enthusiasts to sell their iPhone and Android pictures on a mobile marketplace at the touch of a button. But it’s not the only app that lets users (moderately) line their pockets with their smartphone habits; we round up three – including vukee M – that promise cash rewards without interfering in your life.

 

GymPact 

A nice take on the crowdfunding model, GymPact effectively guilts users into meeting their self-imposed gym attendance quota each week, or else they risk a financial penalty. Every week gym-goers set their workout schedule for the next seven days and make a pledge of between $5 and $50 for every workout missed. At the end of the week, everyone that chose the couch over the treadmill coughs up, and the total is split between those that kept their end of the bargain. The app verifies workouts with check-ins, geolocation and connectivity with running app RunKeeper.

Platform and developer: Android, iOS (by GymPact).

Final word: Clearly not a good choice for existing couch potatoes, but for gym bunnies already making exercise a big part of their lives, this app could deliver nicely, as long as you’re okay taking money on the basis of other people’s failings in life.

 

vukee M

As mentioned above, vukee M – launched this week – allows snap-happy smartphone users to upload their photos to a central marketplace, where, allegedly, their images will be seen by thousands of agencies, editors and commercial buyers. No word yet on the sums involved, but the site claims that if a purchase is made, users will “enjoy a high percentage of the selling price, which they can use to upgrade their device, pay for a trip around the world … or do anything else that they wish”. This would suggest big bucks at stake, but we suspect the real figure is probably much more nominal.

Platform and developer: Android, iOS (by vukee M).

Final word: No doubt there is a growing trend towards candid, Instagram style photographs in marketing and editorial – even in store windows. If this app proves successful, it could pioneer this emerging marketplace, and give some power back to those whose pictures end up used without permission. But bankrolling a trip around the world? Unlikely.

 

Checkpoints 

Checkpoints is a rewards app that encourages users to earn points through playing games, scanning certain items in particular stores, logging check-ins and so on. Out and about, users can fire up the app, and it’ll tell them what’s available nearby. One check-in might be worth 20 points. Scanning a product nearby might be worth 40. Every time a product is scanned, the app will give the user the chance to win extra points through in-app games or special promotions. The app also builds on social connections, encouraging and rewarding users for sharing product tips on networks, or introducing friends to the scheme. Points can be redeemed in-app for dinners, gadgets, airline miles and hotel stays.

Platform and developer: Android, iOS (by inMarket Media).

Final word: Clearly the whole thing is an exercise in product marketing, a kinda ‘we’ll reward you for looking at this but hopefully you’ll buy it anyway, or at least get your friends to’ deal. However, it’s not an intrusive app, and doesn’t require any more effort than a cursory glance when you’re already out shopping. It’ll no doubt take a while to rack up a significant number of points, but what’s a few scans here and there if it means some decent freebies down the line?

 

It’s easy to read about best practices, nod your head in agreement, and then move on. But the fine folks Amy’s Baking Company are in the middle of writing a modern cautionary tale that shows just how important keeping control of your social self really is.

The next time you feel that massive social platforms have decreased our ability to interact or feel emotion, look for human social media. You will find it in the heartfelt mentions of loved ones now gone, posts asking people to give blood after a tragedy, requests to help find a lost child, friend, or pet.

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No one is going to like your idea at first. Again, it’s all got to do with change.

New ideas, good and bad, mean change. And people are hardwired to fear change. It’s what kept our species alive for so long.

And then on top of that, there are the haters. They need something to do to fill the time in between watching Gilligan’s Island reruns and taking trips to the liquor store. And hating your idea fulfills that need, sadly.

That being said, just because people aren’t hating it, doesn’t mean your idea is a good one, either.

Like I said in Ignore Everybody, good ideas have lonely childhoods. It’s only after they’ve had a little time to grow up some and be able to beat up the haters (or at least prove them wrong) that they come into their own.

Just something to keep in mind…

Joe Kyrillos kept asking his opponent Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) to debate him last summer, but Menendez wouldn’t do it. So when Menendez announced he was having an #AskMenendez Twitter town hall, Kyrillos, with the help of the Heritage Foundation Action Fund, announced he was going to use #AskMenendez to have a virtual debate.

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This is a great stunt from Antarctica Beer during the 2013 Carnival in Rio, where they’ve turned typical train turnstiles into beer-can reading machines, which essentially turns any Antarctica Beer into a free train ticket to get you home after a long day/night partying! Great piece work from ALMAPBBDO in Brazil, again, and of course, [...] Related posts:

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