Ok, so this one cheats a little because the author isn't presenting information per se but rather re-creating a fictional narrative. Unless Little Red Riding Hood is actually a true account of a wolf attempting to eat a young girl while she was visiting her grandma. Nevertheless, the author (illustrator?) is very successful at telling the classic tale using visual as opposed to textual cues. Also, note that this is quite different from the way in which the story would be told via a children's picture book. Now, check out the data this infographic presents:
Again, likely not what you were expecting. No stats here but there is data, and this data is presented visually. Again the author succeeds in conveying the information he has chosen quite effectively while employing limited use of textual cues. This is a feat that would come as no surprise to Julian Stallbrass who wrote in 1996; "it is obvious that the visual is the pre-eminent arena of contemporary mass culture to the extent that literacy appears to be declining in many affluent societies, not only perhaps because of declining educational resources but because the skill seems less and less relevant to many people." (Kirschenbaum 137) Does the rise of infographics signal the impending doom of text and the universal illiteracy of humanity? I suppose only time will tell, though maybe there's an infographic somewhere that can shed a little light.
Like this one.
Tameka, the chart you posted made me think a lot about how I view infographics. I naturally assume that if someone went to the trouble of making a nice-looking graphic, then it must be important. Also, the chart pointed out how you assume something is more important if it's just bigger than the other elements. As I commented on John's post, I am going to be a much more discerning viewer of images on the Internet. Maybe I'm just being sentimental about books but my 6-year-old daughter and I watched Little Red Riding Hood together and she told me to pause it because she didn't like it. Her reason was that there were no words. There may be hope yet for text and the enjoyment of creating your own images in your mind.
ReplyDeleteThe topic of infographics is an interesting one, because I think depending on the subject it either works or fails miserably. On occasion, I get adventurous and want to cook something new so I'll venture to a food website and I can't tell you how frustrated I get when I see that there are no text instructions. Just like the "How to Cook Steak" some of these recipes that are solely graphics will omit cooking times, ingredient amounts, or descriptive words like dice/chop/mince that represents scale. So, how do we use graphics without downgrading the subject we're talking about?
ReplyDeleteLOVED IT! Great videos, I wish all instructions came like that. Info-graphics are great. Many people have an easier time understanding images than plain text.
ReplyDeletetameka, another great post. i can't get the image of grandma's nutrition facts out of my mind.
ReplyDeletethe quote you pulled from stallbrass also resonated with me. i believe that our shortened attention spans help proliferate the use of image. after i finished your post, i started to wonder if our society will indeed fall to such a low level of literacy that image will become what is was in the middle ages - the main means of communication. if so, my next thought is who will control the message e.g. propaganda. or perhaps we are evolving to a universal language that is predominately visual. food for thought...
Tameka, thanks for finding the video examples and the definition of infographics. The "Little Red Riding Hood" video provides much information very quickly. It would have taken much longer to read the text of the same story. Regarding your question about the future, I would say that much depends on the context of the consumption. For example, I'd rather read "Little Red Riding Hood" as a children's story book when speaking with a young child at bedtime, but I'd rather show the video in a college class or business meeting.
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