Infographics: Visually Appealing Data

Infographics are everywhere!  They are used in education, business and marketing, government agencies, and non-profits just to name a few.  An inforgraphic shows data visually and concisely to make it easier for the reader to understand.  An infographic has a clear purpose as well.

In education and in the library, they can be used in presentations, as teaching tools, and as creative assignments using data.   The sky is the limit on ways to use infographics with students.

Here are three I tried out:

Facts

• Infogr.am can be used for infographics, presentations, reports, maps, and charts.  
• There are free and paid accounts
• A free account includes 5 infographic templetes, up to 10 projects, up to 3 pages per project, 37 interactive charts, 13 map types, plus the ability to begin a project with a blank templete
• A free account will be publicly viewed, while a paid account can be made private
• You can add photos, media, graphs, maps, and other visuals into the project
• A variety of fonts, sizes, colors for text
• You can download the project as PDF, PNG, or JPEG
• Projects can be uploaded to social media/websites
• Tutorial videos available 
• Easy to use and customize templetes  

            

Facts

• Piktochart projects include infographics, presentations, and printables
• There are free and paid accounts
• A free account includes 8 different infographics templetes or create your own
• You can add photos, media/videos, and other visuals
• A variety of fonts, sizes, and colors for text
• You can download a project as a PDF
• Projects can be uploaded to social media and blogs
• Easy to customize templetes
• Video tutorials are available

Facts

• Easel.ly has a variety of infographics templetes to choose from
• There are free and paid accounts
• Unlimited creations with a free account
• A variety of colors, backgrounds, icons, and shapes
• You can download your project as aJPEG or PNG image
• You can upload projects to social media
• Add photos, charts, and and objects
• Many tutorials and guides to help you get started
• A guide on using infographics in the classroom
• Good customer service
• Allows user to update and customize templetes

As you can see, all three are similar and pretty much work in the same way.  However, Piktochart was the easiest to edit and customize an infographic templete.  The templetes were the most user friendly and would be great to use with students.  It was easy to upload icons, change fonts, colors, and add in a chart.

Here is an infographic I created with Piktochart on teens and social media.