People process large amounts of visual information each day. Most of what people see will be instantly forgotten. How can you get people truly engaged with
the information you share?
Infographics.
Infographics condense information into an easily understandable
and visually appealing presentation. Information
that might otherwise be forgotten can by transformed into an infographic to be
more appealing. McCandless explains how
infographics combine the language of the eye, the beauty, with the language of
the mind, the concept (2010).
Infographics make concepts beautiful for your reader, and therefore more engaging.
Sounds complicated, right?
In the past it was complicated. Now, there are many web-based infographic software
options to choose from. These infographic
software options make creating custom infographics easier than ever and mostly
free.
A few options to consider are Infogram, Piktochart, and Easelly. All of these options offer a free basic plan with
an option to upgrade the features for a fee.
It is quick and simple to get started.
Simply follow the steps to set up a free account. Each software option is intuitive, so getting
started on your first infographic should go smoothly. If it’s not, all software options offer support and tutorials.
Infogram
I used Infogram to create an infographic to compare the annual
cost to upgrade each plan; however, I could not download it using the free version. The free version allows you to share on
social media, embed, and email, but not download. This drawback limits how you can use
your design.
Like the other options, Infogram is intuitive. I’ve never used Infogram before and was able
to quickly create a bar graph to display a cost comparison for upgrades. With Infogram data can be imported from Google
Drive and Dropbox to create charts and graphs.
This is a nice feature for businesses wanting to represent and share
numerical data. Infogram costs the most to
upgrade. The entry level upgrade will cost $380 annually. This makes
it out of reach for most educators.
Piktochart
I am most familiar with Piktochart and use it often. I created
this reading biography using the free version of Piktochart.
You can make a nice infographic using a free Piktochart
account. If you want to upgrade, it will cost $39.99 annually for an educator
account. This makes Piktochart the most affordable upgrade of the three software
options.
Piktochart has a simple layout that I really like. It offers templates, many editing options, photo
uploading, public domain photos from Unsplash, charts, maps, and videos. It has all the bells and whistles you’d expect
from an infographic software. Honestly, I really like it.
Easelly
Easelly offers a free version, but if you want to upgrade
you can for $48 annually or $4 a month. This
is not the cheapest option, but still an affordable choice. I tested
out Easelly by creating the following infographic about parent and teen
cellphone perceptions.
It was simple to use, but I did experience a small challenge. I use Piktochart
often and therefore am more familiar with it.
It was challenging not knowing how to navigate the site. After a short amount of time working in
Easelly, I became comfortable using the software. This
challenge was easy to overcome.
There are many things to like about Easelly. They offer the most template options. The templates are colorful and visually
interesting. If you don’t want to make
your own infographic, they even offer a design service. That is a clever feature. They allow you to imbed your own photos, videos,
and search Unsplash for public domain photos within the software. Easelly is a great choice for creating
infographics.
Conclusion
Infogram was my least favorite. Simply because I could not download without
upgrading. This limits what I can do
with my creations. Piktochart and
Easelly offer many of the same capabilities and are similarly prices. You can’t go wrong with either choice. Easelly has the most available templates and offers
a design service. These additional
features give Easelly the edge on the competition.
References:
Jiang, J. (2018,
August 22). How teens and parents
navigate screen time and device distraction. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2018/08/22/how-teens-and-parents-navigate-screen-time-and-device-distractions/
McCandless, D.
(2010, July). The beauty of data
visualization [Video file]. Retrieved from TED https://www.ted.com/talks/david_mccandless_the_beauty_of_data_visualization#t-603389
Malamed, C. (n.d.).
ELC 010: How to design real (not fake) information
graphics [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from the eLearning Coach website http://theelearningcoach.com/podcasts/10/
Schulten, K. (2010,
August 23). Teaching with infographics:
Places to start. Retrieved from https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/teaching-with-infographics-places-to-start/?_r=0
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ReplyDeleteYour cell phone infographic is visually appealing and makes it very easy to compare the statistics for each age group. I agree that not being able to download your infographics from Infogram (as a non-paying user) can be a drawback, but it really depends on what you are using it for. I was able to embed mine in my blog post (admittedly after a little trial and error!), so it was fine for me for this particular purpose. If I were wanting to print out physical copies for my students or staff, however, the inability to download it without paying would definitely be a dealbreaker!
ReplyDeleteWould it be possible to go around the un-downloadable infocharts by emailing them and then linking a web page? Or perhaps, taking a screenshot, or screencast and then using that, (though that might have a negative effect on the digital quality of the images). That would be a big deterrent for a site like that, but the graphics you made look pretty great!
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