"2023’s Biggest, Most Unusual Race Centers on Abortion and Democracy" - NY Times
How do you explain an issue at a glance? How can readers be drawn into learn more? Tell your story visually with an infographic.
Infographics tell stories in pictures and work regardless of the reader's language, age or education level. They're visually appealing and easy to understand.
Dynamic infographics like this one (created with the free Kumu app) work even better than a static image. They start with a simple facade and let the reader to dive in for more details. They can be read on a phone or laptop and are easy to share on social media.
Abortion rights are on the ballot in Wisconsin
Visual storytelling
Visual storytelling uses the power of pictures to communicate complex ideas simply. It distills important information into its simplest pictorial form. A visual story is processed more quickly, remembered more easily and drives audiences to action more readily than reams of text. - Nifty Fox Creative
- We process visual information quicker than text - 90% of information processed by the brain and 93% of human communication is visual (Pant, 2015). Visual information is allegedly processed more quickly than text (Lile, 2017)).
- We retain visual information better - we are 65% more likely to recall visual content after 3 days than text (Medina, 2018).
- It engages audiences effectively - content with visuals (images, videos etc.) gets 94% more traffic online than plain text (Pant, 2015).
Communicate with images
This infographic uses images to convey the key themes of what's at stake from abortion rights to gerrymandering. The size of the icon can be adjusted to place more emphasis on a topic. Notice how the icon representing abortion rights is larger than the others. Having a white icon on a black background on a white canvas draws your attention to that part of the infographic.
Use cartoons to tell your story
This infographic uses cartoons licensed from Political Cartoons. Cartoons are an extremely effective form of storytelling. They make the point with a touch of humor and color.
Designing an infographic
An infographic isn't meant to replace the details of a written story. They are meant to be visually appealing and place the people, places and issues in context. Once the reader is drawn into the topic, they can find more details and be linked to different websites and videos.
This infographic uses colors to represent the different political affiliations. The size of an image reflects its relative importance in the story. Arrows indicate relationships between people. Basic colors and plenty of blank space are used to make the infographic visually appealing.
Minimize the text
Text such as this one is hidden behind the image and title so as to not clutter the infographic.
"One seat edge is all the majority needs. In narrowly divided Wisconsin, a one-seat edge is all the majority needs to change the state’s politics. (NY Times). In recent years, the court has:
- Approved the Republican-drawn maps
- Ruled that most drop boxes for absentee ballots are illegal
- Struck down Mr. Evers’s pandemic mitigation efforts
- Stripped regulatory powers from the state schools superintendent, a Democrat; - - Allowed political appointees of Mr. Evers’s Republican predecessor to remain in office long past the expiration of their terms
- Required some public schools to pay for busing for parochial schools."
TakeAway: Use visual storytelling and infographics to reach more people.
Deepak
DemLabs
DISCLAIMER: Although the information found in this blog and infographic has been produced from sources believed to be reliable, no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the accuracy, completeness, reliability or legality of any such information. This disclaimer applies to any uses of the information whether isolated or aggregate uses thereof. Democracy Labs disclaims any and all responsibility for uses and misuses of such information by any person.