1. Visual Storytelling:
Infographics in the Library
CARY GOULDIN
UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY
LIBRARIES

2. What is an infographic?
 Visual representation of
data or information
 Art of design meets logic
of statistics
 Graphic novel for data—
uses visual and textual
elements to tell a story
Image source: http://visual.ly/what-infographic-2

3. What are they good for?
 Visuals can be faster and easier to process
 Make big, complex, intimidating data set more
manageable
 Reveal patterns
 Provide context
 Describe relationships
 Make comparisons
 Aid in trend recognition
 Allow viewer to explore data and draw conclusions
 Visuals get more attention online

4. Creating Infographics
PHASE 1:
PLANNING

5. Planning your infographic
 Choose your audience
 What is important to them, what do they need to know?
 What media do they use
 How can you relate to them
 Set goals for your infographic
 Choose the right data
 Interesting/complex data = interesting infographic
 Combine datasets to create more interest
 Make sure you are interpreting the data accurately

6. More Planning
 Find the narrative
 What is important and interesting about the data?
 Look at outliers and patterns—what can they tell you?
 Use statistics—find meaning beyond the basic numbers
 Find and illustrate the drama of the data
 What’s the hook?
 What information is needed to contextualize your data?
 Tell the story the data illustrates, not the one you want

7. Even More Planning
 Choose the right elements
 Bar Charts—simple, significant comparisons
 Diagrams or flowcharts—processes or relationships
 Pie & Doughnut Charts—parts of whole (total = 100%)
 Line Graphs—temporal data
 Maps—geographic data
 Tree Chart—hierarchical relationships
 Detailed information on various chart types can be found
on Wikipedia
 Wireframe/Storyboard

8. Creating Infographics
PHASE 2:
DESIGNING

9. Layin’ it all out
 Establish a format
 Title, subtitle and body size and font consistent
 Graphics of same type and importance sized and colored
consistently
 Layout
 Start with the hook and order other elements accordingly
 Establish clear progression through elements
 Start at top left—like reading
 Use a title that will entice
 Use text and element size and color to indicate
importance (sparingly)
 Balance of elements and white space

10. Makin’ it pretty
 How to use color
 Color should enhance the narrative, not just look pretty
 Two- or three-color palate are best—use different shades
 Use relatively muted pallet
 No white backgrounds
 Dominant dark colors, neon and light colors are hard to read
 Start design in black and white add color last
 Font
 Use 2 at most
 Avoid fancy fonts
 Don’t use fancy elements like 3d, pattern/texture,
shadows and shading—it distracts from the story

11. Revision, revision, revision
 Question everything
 Remove elements that don’t contribute to the narrative
 Ignore the text and focus on color – is it helping the narrative?
 What could be misleading?
 Check your data
 Are your numbers correct?
 Are you representing it accurately?
 Have you included enough or too much data?
 Get a second (third, fourth) opinion.

12. Creating Inforgraphics
COMMON
MISTAKES

13. Look, I am giving you data!
Image source: http://visual.ly/domestic-violence-0

14. I’ll have 215% of the pie
Image source: http://visual.ly/infographic-mobile-app-marketing-%E2%80%93-glance

15. When your team can’t visualize percentages
Image source: http://visual.ly/sap-abap-versus-sap-fico

16. When your infographic needs more info
Image source: http://visual.ly/wedding-cake-0

17. Your chart doesn’t say what you think is does
Image source: http://visual.ly/georgia-gwinnett-college

18. Creating Infographics
PHASE 3:
DISSEMINATION

19. Fly, little birdie!
 How to use infographics
 Information Literacy
 How to do research
 Data literacy
 Marketing
 Advocacy
 Training
 Where
 Social Media
 Website
 LibGuides
 Assessment—did you meet your goals?

20. Creating Infographics
TOOLS, RESOURCES
AND INSPIRATION

21. Resources for you
 General
 Cool Infographics Blog Tools List
 Over 100 Incredible Infographic Tools and Resources
 Infographic Creation
 20+ Tools to Create Your Own Infographics
 Fonts
 Font Combination Pinterest Board
 20 Amazing Free Font Pairings
 Web Font Combinations Cheat Sheet
 Charts
 Wikipedia

22. Looking for inspiration
 Pinterest Boards
 South Dakota State Library’s Library Infographics
 Ye Olde Fortress of Awesome’s Library Infographics
 ProQuest’s Infographics for Libraries and Librarians
 Cool Infographics Gallery
 Infographic Gallery
 Visual.ly Community
 What not to do
 WTF Visualizations

23. Access this presentation
http://tinyurl.com/InfographicStorytelling