Cool Infographics: Effective Communication with Data Visualization and Design

1 The Science of Infographics 1Information Overload 9The Rise of the Informavore 9The Rise of Big Data 11Why Infographics Work 14Pattern Recognition 15The Language of Context 16The Picture Superiority Effect 20The Art of Storytelling 27Introduction/Foundation 28Ah-Ha! The Main Event 28Conclusion/Call-to-action 29Media Formats of Infographics 31Static Infographics 31Zooming Infographics 34Clickable Infographics 37Animated Infographics 42Video Infographics 45Interactive Infographics 48Final Thoughts 522 Online Infographics 57Vertical Versus Horizontal Layouts 58Types of Online Infographics 67Informative Infographics 69Persuasive Infographics 71Visual Explanations 78Infographic Advertisements 83PR Infographics 88Infographic Posters 90Intellectual Property Issues 98Copyright 98Creative Commons 100Trademarks and the Fair Use Doctrine 103Images and Illustrations 105AIGA, the Professional Association for Design 107Should You Copyright Your Infographic? 107Final Thoughts 1083 Infographics and SEO 113The Search Engine Challenge 115The Objective of SEO 118The Link Bait Challenge 119It's All About Relevance 123Online Lifespan 126Infographic Release Strategy 135Landing Pages 135Self-promotion 148Promotion, Publicity, and Outreach 155Final Thoughts 1694 Infographic Resumes 173Key Benefits 180What's the Risk? 180Designing an Infographic Resume 181Timeline Designs 183Relative Experience Designs 187Geographic Designs 190Company Logos and Icons 192Software Application Logos 201Using an Infographic Resume 204Job Application Systems 204Standalone Infographic Resume 205Combined Infographic Resume Design 208Publishing Infographic Resumes Online 210Designing Infographic Resumes for Print 211Infographic Resumes on the iPad (or Tablet) 215Infographic Resume Design Tools 217All About You 2285 Internal Confidential Infographics 233Improving Internal Communications 234The Fear of Confidential Information 236Ideas for Visualizing Internal Data 238Budgets 238Sales and Profit Data 244Business Processes 246Strategies 251Better Presentations Using Infographics 259Final Thoughts 2686 Designing Infographics 271Be Accurate 272Visualizing Area 274Pick a Good Topic 281Trending Topics 281Controversial Topics 282Search for Prior Art 282Focus on the Key Message 283The 5-second Rule 284Tell One Story Really Well 285Visualize When Possible 288Big Fonts Are NOT Data Visualizations 288Visuals Are Perceived as More Important 290Minimize Text 291Eliminate Chart Legends 293Be Data Transparent 295No Data Sources List 296Vague Data Sources 297Questionable Data Sources 298Best Practices 298The Fine Print 299Company Logo 299Copyright License 300Original Landing Page URL 300Designer Credit 301Putting It Together 302Final Thoughts 3027 Design Resources 305Desktop Software Tools 306Vector Graphics 306Image Editing 314Online Data Visualization Tools 317Finding Data Online 328Online Infographics Design Sites 330Reading List 337Index 339