Infographics Session

From kmc4crps ilriwikis

File:Infographics.pptx ---> Here is the actual presentation that I gave - full of useful links and tips. Cheers - Lucy.

Infographics Session by Lucy

  • Check out CCAFS big facts ([[1]])

o Objective is not to create new data, but to pick out big facts from most reputable sources and have them peer reviewed. o Would have been good to have more multi-variate tables and charts * § Need scientists to supply certain types of content and information * Infographics are time-consuming * Really good designers are not scientists. And good infographics are about the stories—something scientists are not necessarily good at. * Process ' o Scientists give a narrative story and facts. Very disjointed. ' o Put them in a template with fact, key message and communications consideration (pie chart, illustration, etc.) ' o Where things were conceptual and a flow chart, Lucy had to do first draft on design (in Powerpoint) ' o Went through multiple drafts and rounds of feedback. '* § Important that each fact could be looked at individually and could be inserted into a presentation (want people to be able to download each fact/graphic and use it)

  • o Edited pages to make sure the data was correct (units of measurement, etc)
  • o Sent very explicit clear feedback with every round
  • Design company that specializes in infographics and also does outreach: Column 5
  • Each graphic has a plus sign in lower corner. When you click it flips over to reveal sourcing information, download links, share, embed.
  • Designers don’t understand all content

o Need to make sure units are consistent, sourcing is consistent Put infographics into presentations and play on loop at conferences Data and tools may lend themselves to dynamic infographics * o CCAFS is looking to pursue this * Types of facts and the graphics they lend themselves to ' o Qualitative statements=illustrations, and often hard to make look scientific ' o Big numbers (such as an absolute frequency)=make the number very big ' o Absolute frequencies (with two unknown numbers)=make up baseline and then reduce or expand by x ' o Percentages and population facts=simple charts or big numbers ' o Comparative data for one variable=interesting charts ' o Comparative data for different variables (need a qualitative statement)=chart ' o Causal relationships (most difficult)=flow chart (traditional, with icons), often requires a lot of direction to designer, be careful about using arrows ' Discussion '* o Did you have scientists to objected to ‘over-simplification’? '''' § This is the job of infographics to simplify. If you click on an infographics it brings you to a page about that topic.

  • o Who has final word?

§ Our head of research has final approval and our director has also backed them.

  • o How did you sift through scientific data?

§ It took months and we hired many interns.

  • o What was the budget?

§ $75,000 to deliver 8 animations, the website and 15 big pages each with 10 to 15 small diagrams. § Single infographic is $500-$1000. An animation is about $3,000.

  • o Holly Holmes at WorldFish is also working on infographics