If you’re a web surfer, you’d probably be aware of eye-catching graphics that relay information on a variety of topics. Right from blogs to business websites, almost everything on the internet today relies on effective communication! And communication is made easy through the use of graphical data! As a business proponent, even you might have thought of delivering your message to the masses through infographic designs. But what are infographics and how did they become so popular over time?
An infographic is a visual representation of textual data, aimed with the purpose of simplifying complex information!
Graphic design and infographics aren’t of recent origin, they’ve existed right from the beginning! For millennia, cultures from all over the world have relied on graphics to communicate.
Let’s briefly study the history and evolution of infographics
If you’ve been lucky enough to visit architectural sites in Egypt, you’d see how ancient Egyptians devised a way of telling stories, way better than text could. Hieroglyphics, meaning “god’s words” was the formal style of communication that relied on the usage of symbols to represent letters and words. Dating back to the preliterate era dating back to 4000 BC, the use of hieroglyphics translated to a further simplified version called the demotic script. These were humble beginnings of what would turn into a multi-billion dollar industry aeons later!
Elsewhere in China, playing cards became popular in the 9th century. Traditional playing cards had designs on the face and they differed greatly from region to region. Playing cards then forayed into European shores in the 14th century and thus grew the popularity of designs and “infographic” styled elements.
Perhaps the first prototype of modern infographics was propaganda and European countries in the 19th and 20th centuries propagated the excessive usage of eyeball grabbing graphics to mobilize the masses! The intertwine between graphic arts and a message served as inspiration for companies to organize data in a way that would appeal to the masses! Graphic arts were never the same again.
What it spawned: Present day infographic designs
While advertising can be termed as “disguised propaganda” (I know I’m exaggerating it a bit!), today’s infographics are less of “in your face” attack and more about subtly “selling” products.
It is akin to modern art, involving the subtle simplicity of a “call to action” message. Churning out a visually compelling piece of art that succinctly helps you communicate with the masses, is no less than renaissance-esque art! The piece if executed brilliantly can take viewers through a mind-boggling journey!
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