Infographics: What They are and How to Use Them

Infographics give information in the form of visuals. People this day and age want to be given their information quickly and tend to scan over text and go straight to visuals. This is where infrographs come to play. There are many different types of infographics used in our society's media to “cut to the chase” of the important information. Below are five types of infographs discussed in the reading (Golombisky 162):

Terms to know:

Text boxes give bigger lists of information for the audience.

Maps give location markers geological information.

Sequences give step-by-step or timelines to inform.

Diagrams break down the image to give an in-depth description.

Charts and Graphs display numerical data and information.

For the assignment we are asking that you find an infograph of any type that portrays false or over exaggerated information. Identify what type of infograph it is and the aspect that make it that type. Analyze where it went wrong and why. Discuss how the audience may have reacted and the negative effect it could have on them. Then go to another students prompt and state your initial reaction of their example.

Our example:

Figure 1: Gun deaths in Florida, Florida Department
of Law Enforcement

This graph that was published by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in February 2014. It is a plot graph that fits under the graphs and charts category of infographs. The information that is being portrayed is the number of firearm murders before and after the stand your ground law was enforced between 1990 and 2010. Visible the murders fluctuate throughout the years but looking at the starting number and ending number they aren’t too far off from one another. This outright contradicts the information being shown. The graph is also numbered incorrectly to try and trick the audience. Having the higher numbers at the bottom make some believe that the starting rate it already low.

Golombisky, Kim and Hagen, Rebecca. White Space Is Not Your Enemy. “Infographics: Maximum Information in Minimum Space.” Chapter 10, pgs 160-176.