Infographic hell
April 29, 2020 9:05 PM Subscribe
Looking for resources and guidance on good design of infographics in printed reports/ PDFs.
I sometimes work on printed/ PDF documents in which infographics are used to highlight key points. Sometimes those points are fairly straightforward, eg: "23% people prefer this brand of tissues". At other times it's more technical, complex or text-heavy, eg "Over 12,000 people (23% over 65) shared this box of tissues", or "Global Agreement on Disposal of Used Tissues ratified". Usually, these infographics are scattered around text as well as compiled on "highlights" pages. Often the same infographic is used in both places.
They are generally similar in look and feel to these infographics, or at least I think that is usually the intended end-point. Typically their components are one or more of the following: (a) a quirky icon or two, usually in a single flat colour from the design; (b) key words picked out in appropriate colours based on the design; (c) key figures in bold and larger text; (d) variable spacing between texts of different sizes; (d) an odd shape for the infographic as a whole which looks funny when on a text-heavy page.
I often find these rather busy and ugly to look at, and would like to be able to refer to a good design guide that would help me clarify my own thoughts on both writing and designing such infographics, understand some design principles governing them, and articulate useful guidance and, later, feedback to designers.
Any tips or suggestions for online resources?
I sometimes work on printed/ PDF documents in which infographics are used to highlight key points. Sometimes those points are fairly straightforward, eg: "23% people prefer this brand of tissues". At other times it's more technical, complex or text-heavy, eg "Over 12,000 people (23% over 65) shared this box of tissues", or "Global Agreement on Disposal of Used Tissues ratified". Usually, these infographics are scattered around text as well as compiled on "highlights" pages. Often the same infographic is used in both places.
They are generally similar in look and feel to these infographics, or at least I think that is usually the intended end-point. Typically their components are one or more of the following: (a) a quirky icon or two, usually in a single flat colour from the design; (b) key words picked out in appropriate colours based on the design; (c) key figures in bold and larger text; (d) variable spacing between texts of different sizes; (d) an odd shape for the infographic as a whole which looks funny when on a text-heavy page.
I often find these rather busy and ugly to look at, and would like to be able to refer to a good design guide that would help me clarify my own thoughts on both writing and designing such infographics, understand some design principles governing them, and articulate useful guidance and, later, feedback to designers.
Any tips or suggestions for online resources?
I did an information visualisation course as part of my masters, and in addition to heavily referencing Tufte, we read Stephen Few's Now You See It (book). Recommended reading. Like Tufte, this backs ups what your gut is telling you: busy distractions in graphic communication take away from the clarity and reliability of the message. If a book is too much, I see Few has some of his articles linked from his website.
Looking forward to what others add to this thread.
posted by tamarack at 9:28 PM on April 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
Looking forward to what others add to this thread.
posted by tamarack at 9:28 PM on April 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
A site I often find very helpful is Ken Hughes' blog brushingupscience Poster making page. Ken covers the whole production cycle, techniques, tips, typography, tools.
SPACE Lab (Spatial Perception, Applied Cognition & Education) publish widely on design and understanding of complex graphics - they tweet too if you just want a squizz.
I have briefly held a copy of Technically-Write, 8th Edition by Blicq and Moretto, It looks promising but can't find anything online about it. I do judge books by their cover and will get a copy when I find one.
And you can't go wrong with Tufte.
posted by unearthed at 9:58 PM on April 29, 2020
SPACE Lab (Spatial Perception, Applied Cognition & Education) publish widely on design and understanding of complex graphics - they tweet too if you just want a squizz.
I have briefly held a copy of Technically-Write, 8th Edition by Blicq and Moretto, It looks promising but can't find anything online about it. I do judge books by their cover and will get a copy when I find one.
And you can't go wrong with Tufte.
posted by unearthed at 9:58 PM on April 29, 2020
I was reading this article yesterday from The Economist on mistakes they've made, it might be of interest:
Mistakes, we’ve drawn a few - The Economist
https://medium.economist.com/mistakes-weve-drawn-a-few-8cdd8a42d368?gi=2f1c02f7ef99
There'a few more useful articles on their main page, https://medium.economist.com/.
posted by Boobus Tuber at 3:12 AM on April 30, 2020
Mistakes, we’ve drawn a few - The Economist
https://medium.economist.com/mistakes-weve-drawn-a-few-8cdd8a42d368?gi=2f1c02f7ef99
There'a few more useful articles on their main page, https://medium.economist.com/.
posted by Boobus Tuber at 3:12 AM on April 30, 2020
Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences by Nancy Duarte
posted by jacobean at 5:39 AM on April 30, 2020
posted by jacobean at 5:39 AM on April 30, 2020
Information is Beautiful is a good resource for this.
posted by helloimjennsco at 6:44 AM on April 30, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by helloimjennsco at 6:44 AM on April 30, 2020 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
They're a lot more readable than they sound! And even though they're expensive art objects on their own, it's easy to borrow them from the Open Library.
posted by mmc at 9:18 PM on April 29, 2020 [1 favorite]