Archive for the ‘Infographics’ Category

Blog, Infographics, Innovation, Insights, Interesting Stuff

Data Should be Beautiful, Playful and Enlightening

As part of the onedotzero season at the BFI in November I attended a fascinating forum on Data Visualisation on Friday night. There were a number of speakers who showcased their work the highlight being David McCandless the author of Information is Beautiful.

The key themes from the event can be summed up as follows:

1. We live in an era of of information overload and huge complexity we need help to make sense of it all.

Continue Reading the Article Here

Blog, Infographics

Infographics – Style over Substance?

Date October 25 2011
Posted by Chris
Tagged with

Infographics are everywhere. As a method of presenting information clearly and quickly and avoiding the need for vast tracts of data, they’ve been in use since prehistory, when our primitive ancestors would use cave paintings to illustrate their journeys and keep track of livestock and grain. More recently, Florence Nightingale used the Coxcomb Chart above, which was made in 1857, to illustrate her point to Queen Victoria. The blue areas represent deaths by preventible or treatable disease during the Crimean conflict, compared to wounds (in red) and other causes (black). To take a closer look, click the image.

Just four years later, the erstwhile Inspector General of Bridges and Roads, Charles Joseph Minard, created the infographic below to depict the disastrous Napoleonic invasion of Russia. The red line represents the march to Moscow whilst the black line shows the retreat. This infographic fulfils its function beautifully, showing simply and powerfully how an army of 422,000 men came back as just 10,000 as bad weather (the line graph below the main body of the graphic) and stiff resistance took its toll. Minard was renowned for the advances he made in the presentation of data, having already created this map of the cattle sent from around France for consumption in Paris in 1858. Scientist and photographer Etienne-Jules Marey expressed the influence of Minard’s depiction of the Russian campaign perfectly: “it defies the pen of the historian in its brutal eloquence”.

The 20th century saw further, dramatic developments in the field of infographics, as one of the most iconic infographics ever emerged in London. The London underground map, designed by Harry Beck, communicates the necessary information clearly and concisely in comparison with the geographically accurate maps of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

So has the infographic retained its power and “brutal eloquence” into the 21st century? Certainly, they remain popular and ubiquitous. In the last 12 months Google have seen a significant upward trend in people searching for the word itself, and marketing companies are using infographics as a way of pushing their message viral. There are even dedicated websites for the curation of the best infographics.

However, there’s also a growing issue of people creating infographics which are unclear, illegible and, frankly, downright ugly. As we’ve established, the best infographics are powerful enough to validate that old cliche that a picture is worth a thousand words. But the worst do more to confuse and bewilder than even the least carefully chosen words. The above is a prime example – a whirl of text and colour that serves only to obfuscate whatever point the creator was trying to make. Almost equally heinous is this example, below, from Ikea, usually purveyors of simple, attractive design – made with honourable intent, perhaps, but as attractive as a school science project and ultimately a waste of their designers’ time.

The moral of the story is this: if you’re making an infographic or illustrating a report, be certain that it is simple, strong and worth the time it will take to make. A poor infographic, or one which could have served purpose as a chart or table, is more often than not a waste of yours and your audience’s time.

Blog, Communities, Face, Infographics, Innovation, Insights

Face’s Top 5s of 2010: Developments

Date January 27 2011
Posted by Matt
Tagged with

In 2010 technology, the internet and social media have really led the way, pushing boundaries and creating exciting talking points. The speed in which the research and innovation industry is evolving and changing is both breathtaking and hugely exciting.

There have been so many interesting developments this year it is hard trying to decide on the 5 most pertinent. In the end the decision came down to the 5 things that have created the most conversation in the Face office this year.

Here are Face’s Top 5 Developments of 2010:

Game Over?

This time last year FourSquare was dominating a lot of talk with their really cool and innovative use of badges and gaming mechanics. This sparked a flurry of gamification and it became the flavour of the month; 12 months on and there is an ongoing conversation about gamification and how it should be used.

Naturally FourSquare’s success led to a flood of apps and sites using games as a way of engaging users, some of them were fun and interesting, others just didn’t really make sense. People like playing games but there has to be an actual game to play for them to engage, you can’t just tag badges onto something and expect people to like it.

The conversation still continues about when games are, and aren’t, appropriate – something we’ll be keeping a very close eye on in 2011.

See: Is Gamification the Cure to Boredom

When Social Media Met Research

Social media research, real time research, social research, social media analysis, tracking… or however you might describe it has been one of the biggest research developments this year.

Measuring sentiment and online visibility has opened up new doors for companies allowing them to react quickly to the conversations taking place about them. This has led to a more adaptable way of doing things, allowing audiences to have a constructive input into how brands should interact.

There is a wider internal debate going on within the industry about the rules and regulations regarding SMR, something that will carry on into 2011. One thing is for sure though, real time research is here to stay and will continue to give brands valuable insight.

See: Social Media Monitoring: From Data to Insights

Digital Going Physical

So now that the internet has digitalised everything, what happens next? Well according to a lot of people, it’s all going to physicalise again. This means the internet and social media will be in all the objects around you, whether it is TV becoming more social, or your alarm clock waking you up with tweets, the digital world is going to be integrating into the physical world around us.

The wider conversation surrounding this topic revolves around whether people actually want to be constantly in touch with their digital lives. Are we at the stage where digital life is now fully integrated with the ‘real’ world or do we still want distance between the two?

See: Incedental Media: Devices Won’t Be Passive Anymore

Beautiful Stats

Infographics and data visualisation is something we have been banging on about for ages (and a lot in this top 5 series). However in 2010 the volume of brilliant visualisations has massively increased with some stunning infographics being produced over the 12 last months.

This rise in good looking data has been joined by Prezi’s popularity increase. Prezi is trying to take on PowerPoint in the presenting software world, a battle that a lot of people would like to see them win.

The increase in the use of infographics and visual storytelling has made the output of research a lot more interesting for audiences and long may it continue!

SEE: Why Researchers Should Be Using Infographics

The Socialisation of Brands

Up to now brands role within the social media universe has very much been a trial and error process. Initially brands used social media to try and encourage traffic to their own websites… However now with companies and agencies starting to understand how social media can create mutually beneficial relationships, brands are becoming fully social.

There are no set guidelines on how brands should interact and act within social media so it really is an open playing field. What we are seeing now (and will continue to see) is brands becoming confident using social media and start to create some interesting and exciting content, which will in turn create unique and lasting relationships with their audiences.

SEE: Wave.5 The Socialisation of Brands.

So there we are, the end of our top 5s for 2010. A top 5 of top 5s if you will.

Here’s to 2011 and another year of interesting and exciting developments!!!

Blog, Infographics, Innovation, Insights, Interesting Stuff

Data Should be Beautiful, Playful and Enlightening

Date November 15 2010
Posted by Job
Tagged with

The key themes from the event can be summed up as follows:

research +

innovation +

brand +

Archive for the ‘Infographics’ Category

Blog, Infographics, Innovation, Insights, Interesting Stuff

Top Posts of the Past Series: Data Should be Beautiful, Playful and Enlightening