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16 Infographics

Read time: 4 minutes

Overview

This chapter discusses one specific type of SciComm: The Infographic.

Sections in this chapter

  • The rise of infographics
  • Creating an infographic
  • Examples of infographics
  • Science meets art
  • Share

The Rise of Infographics

Infographics are visual communications that use icons, illustrations, and limited text. They have a fascinating history and have risen in popularity as a way to visualize “big data”, for example,[1]  data related to worldwide effects of climate change or global pandemic data. Infographics present these complex systems in a way that makes it easy to see how things relate to one another. By providing a view of the big picture, infographics can give non-experts instant insight that can lead to real change (Figure 17.1).

Infographic entitled "The Impact of COVID-19 on Mental, Neurological and Substance USE (MNS) Services: Results of a Rapid Assessment. Includes various data visualizations, and then lists three priority actions: Allocate, Maintain, and Strengthen.
Figure 17.1. An example of an infographic.

Creating an Infographic

Infographics are designed to show “big data” in the most minimalistic way, and so the audience, scope, and purpose of the infographic must be well defined in the planning stage.

Purpose

In science, infographics are used to inform, explain, entertain, or to spur action. When creating your own infographic, make sure you have a clear message you are trying to convey to the reader. Knowing the purpose of the infographic will help you know which data and information are essential, and what can be left out.

Audience

Closely linked to the purpose of your infographic is its intended audience. Who are you trying to convey your message to? Review the chapter Knowing your audience and think about how the age, education, location, and other demographics may influence how you design your infographic.

Scope

The best infographics have some sort of narrative or story that the viewer/reader can follow, one that aligns with the key message and purpose of the visualization. Once you have your audience and purpose, it’s easy to define the scope of your infographic and build a narrative. Write a script or storyboard for this narrative. Start with a hook, like an intriguing question, which will draw in the reader to the details.

Purpose, Audience, and Scope

See if you can define the purpose, audience, and scope of these infographics:

Infographic entitled "Aflatoxin: A Fungal Toxin Infecting the Food Chain". Text reads in part "Persistent high levels of aflatoxins - naturally occurring carcinogenic byproducts of common fungi on grains and other crops - pose significant health risks to animals and humans in many tropical developing countries. Includes images of the food chain showing how aflotoxins persist from susceptible crops and poor storage to animal consumption and impact on dairy production, as well as human consumption and impact on human health.
 
Here is an answer

Purpose: Inform and explain
Audience: General but informed public, possible research donors
Scope: Impacts of the fungus on human systems and health in Africa

Infographic entitled "High Blood Pressure". Text reads "Blood pressure is the force of blood against the walls of arteries. High blood pressure (hypertension) increases your chance of heart disease, and is dangerous because it often has no symptoms. Prevent high blood pressure by reducing sodium (salt) intake, being active, and keeping a healthy weight. A table shows ranges of systolic and diastolic blood pressures in the categories of normal, prehypertension,, stage 1 hyptertension, and stage 2 hypertension. A graphic indicates that nearly 1 in 3 American women has high blood pressure. Text recommending consuming less than 1 teaspoon of sodium a day.
“Heart Disease Risk Factor Infographics” by National Institutes of Health (NIH) is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
Here is an answer

Purpose: Inform and call to action
Audience: Targeted to women
Scope: Inform on the issue and suggest actions for women to take.

Infographic entitled "Impacts of climate change on the urban environment". A cartoon image of a town surrounded by descriptions of possible impacts such as "Flooding of urban environments", "Loss of urban trees", and "Increase in heat related illness and hospital admissions". Each impact includes one or more of the five symbols for heatwaves, bushfires, higher temperatures, severe storms, and drought.
“Impacts of climate change on health and the urban environment”
Here is an answer

Purpose: inform and call for action
Audience: General public who is interested in climate change
Scope: Informs about the impact of climate change and suggest actions for policy makers to take.

Science Meets Art

Infographics can be simple, hand-drawn, or complex computer renderings. Many scientists are starting to partner with artists and graphic designers to help them communicate important information and increase the impact of their research (Figure 17.2).[2]

Infographic about pesticides and plant-pollinator networks. It includes illustrations of people, plants, and insects.
Figure 17.2. The example of a hand-drawn infographic from a recent article describing the importance of collaborating with artists to help increase the impact of research.

Share

Infographics need to be shareable to reach their intended audience. Most infographics are licensed under Creative Commons, a nonprofit organization that provides copyright licenses to creators. You will notice the Creative Commons logos on many of the infographic above. This type of licensing allows creators to choose how they want their work to be used and shared in the public domain.

The Creative Commons License Options

The list below is from CreativeCommons.org, CC-BY 4.0, Icons by The Noun Project.

imageCC BY: This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use.

imageCC BY-SA: This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms.

imageCC BY-NC: This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.

imageCC BY-NC-SA: This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms.

imageCC BY-ND: This license allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use.

imageCC BY-NC-ND: This license allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.

  1. Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/surprising-history-infographic-180959563/ (accessed 2020-08-27).
  2. Khoury, C.K., Kisel, Y., Kantar, M. et al. Science–graphic art partnerships to increase research impact. Commun. Biol. 2019, 2, 295. DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-019-0516-1

License

Icon for the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Science Communication Toolkit Copyright © by Aditi Gupta; Katie Harding; and Sree Gayathri Talluri is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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