Show, Don’t Tell: Storytelling With Infographics Breakfast Learning Series 4/27/2016 Delia Coleman, VP Strategy + Kathleen Murphy Director,

#Goals Understanding why Infographics are the made for communicating data We’ll understand basic principles of how people process information Infographics: It’s more than data We’ll understand how to best fit the right kind of data to the right kind of infographic We’ll understand basic principles for creating an infographic Building a Stronger IL: How Forefront changed the way we communicate data We’ll understand the questions to ask when thinking about presenting data Workshop your own infographic Translate your organization’s data into a beautiful, shareable, informative and engaging piece of content to promote your cause and tell your story.

Why? Infographics work. People only read and process 28% of text on web pages The brain processes visuals 60,000x faster than words. An infographic can make information more easy to interpret and easier to connect with. Cool Link: 13 Reasons Why Your Brain Craves Infographics

Bad Infographic Textextextextextextext Bad/Inaccurate charts Using data as a starting point Incoherent story Content doesn’t match audience Unknown purpose (what will it be used for?) Boring Bad sourcing of data (if you’re using secondary information)

Decent Infographic

Awesome Infographic! Gates Foundation, 2014

Deciding What Data to Represent Hint: Don’t Use it As a Starting Point The #1 mistake most people make when they want to create infographics is to use their data as the starting point Readers don’t exactly care about your data, they care about the story you are telling. Think about what you want people to learn and take away after they look at your infographic.

More than Data Usa

Case Study: Forefront’s SROI reports Forefront data before Printed Hidden on website Superfluity of TEXT Long Boring Unused Forefront data after Online Story-driven Social Advocacy-oriented Accessible Visually compelling

Visualizing Your Story Audience & Purpose (How will people *use* it? Where will they use it?) Social share? Download? (Hm) Story Hierarchy of Data Design Color, Scale, Pattern, Size, White Space, Repetition, Lines, etc. Call to Action (a url is not a call to action)

Visualizing Your Story: Organizing Timeline Comparing and Contrasting Data Representations (stats heavy) Process Infographics (how we get from a to b) Geographic Infographics Hierarchical Infographics

Visualizing Your Story: Design Principles for Effective Visual Communication Venngage

Visualizing Your Story: Design Principles for Effective Visual Communication Venngage

Visualizing Your Story: Design Principles for Effective Visual Communication Venngage

Visualizing Your Story: Design Principles for Effective Visual Communication Venngage

Visualizing Your Story: Design Principles for Effective Visual Communication Venngage

Visualizing Your Story: Design Principles for Effective Visual Communication Venngage

Visualizing Your Story: Design Principles for Effective Visual Communication Venngage

Visualizing Your Story: Design Principles for Effective Visual Communication Venngage

Visualizing Your Story: Design Principles for Effective Visual Communication Venngage

Visualizing Your Story: Infographic Hacks 1.Go to Venngage, Pitkochart Templates page 2.Pick one or a few you like. Then use that as the base style. 3.Create an outline of the infographic with all the charts and elements (on paper) 4.Create the infographic on a tool like Venngage (using the outline and template) Venngage (using the outline and template) 5.Change the color, fonts and other elements to create your own style derivative. (ColorLovers.com)ColorLovers.com

Resources People Ann K Emery (annkemery.com) Cole Nussbaumer (Storytellingwithdata.com) Tools to make you look like a genius Piktochart Canva Venngage Easel.ly Links The Ultimate Guide to Infographics for Nonprofits

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