Think of a still video with text. We try to capture knowledge on a daily basis. We consume so much information every moment in our life that it can be confusing what we are actually processing. Videos are usually the better option to understanding concepts. However, they can be lengthy and may require extensive time investment. Articles can be helpful but, you can get lost in the sentences. The middle ground between text, pictures and videos is what is infographic.

What is an infographic?

Infographics provide information in a very direct and easy-to-read manner. To compare heights of skyscrapers, you can show a to-scale picture of them side by side. This will be more effective than listing them as numbers. In essence, we use them to provide a high-level context of a topic, display findings or describe a process.

When we try to understand what is infographic, we must first understand us, human. Firstly, we heavily rely on our eyesight in order to gauge our interest level. Whether it be a tiger or a pizza, we can be frightened or hungry. Understanding that we are visual creatures, infographics can help educate, inform or pique interest in an effective manner. However, since there are different types of information, there are different types of infographics. The 4 main groups are:

• Declarative – stating that something is finite
• Conceptual – how something could work
• Exploratory – what something is
• Data-driven – how something will be, based on data

How are they used?

Depending on the information that we are conveying we can use one, or a combination of the 4 groups. We may not realize how much exposure we have to infographics. For example, the weather patterns for Canada on TV. The splotches colours represent the temperature and based on their geo-location. This is an example of a conceptual and data-driven infographic. It is quickly able to convey the weather of an entire country, quickly and easily.

In marketing, we use infographics to capture attention and seek to educate the consumer. We can quickly give them information on the hypothesis and result in one glance. The visual nature of infographics calls to embrace creativity in delivering the information. This is why the two go hand in hand. Marketers often overlook the education of the consumer and go straight to advertising the brand. By doing this, consumers do not (or can not) relate to the brand which can result in failed campaigns.

In summary, infographics are able to show complex concepts with visual creativity. It allows the viewer to grasp a large amount of information in very little time.