Since the concept of «infographics» is fairly new and structured poorly, everything is coming for the first time and slowly. We are trying to understand the issue itself and propose a framework — so what are the kinds of infographics ?
When trying to understand the species and subspecies of infographics and visualizations, you must first begin to divide it by economic sector: business, journalism, science, etc.
Then comes a proposal to classify by the type of results:
- static (image, presentation, etc.)
- dynamic (animation, for example)
- interactive (web solutions, where you can select options to display the information)
This structure can be applied to anything, not necessarily to information design.
So, here it is, we feel that we have come to an understanding of the issue — visualization had 3 levels:
1. Visualization of DATA helps reading the numbers — an array of data processed in diagram, allows to see patterns.
2. Visualization of INFORMATION connects the various facts into some kind of story, and to some extent, already offers an interpretation of events. Perhaps that’s the «infographics» in its purest form.
3. And finally, visualization of KNOWLEDGE. For example, when an entrepreneur wants to show the world the idea of his innovative business. The idea currently is in his head and it needs to gain sense not in words, but in image, scheme or map.
Lets try to understand the following examples:
Visualization of Data
Visualization of Information:
Visualization of Knowledge (Oracle‘s services for pharmaceutical companies):
At first, this idea came into our heads from Luca Masud — designer at Density Design studio. His presentation is also posted below.
* dynamic (animation, for example)
* Interactive (web solutions where you can select options for displaying information)