Whitepapers Are a Thing of the Past

Typically, when we think of whitepapers we think of something like a heavily branded essay to promote a certain idea or company. To us, the only people who are interested in whitepapers are, well, who really is actually interested in whitepapers? To be fair though, we do need whitepapers. They are an easy and straightforward way to take in a lot of information in the quickest way possible. Some of them may run many pages long, but whatever it you’re looking for, the whitepaper will have it.

Whitepapers have been around for decades, originating in government settings. The whitepaper was the final draft of the final draft; if it was printed on the whitepaper then that was it, so you could forget about edits. Within groups, the whitepaper was a powerful tool to convey information, support ideas (sometimes biased), propose solutions to problems, and just sum up a whole lot of information.

Infographics Tell us a Visual Story

Now some would argue that in infographic is superior to the whitepaper. They are fresh, new, easy to share, and even easier on the eyes. Honestly, what would you rather look at? But the capacity for information in an infographic versus a whitepaper is no contest. An infographic shouldn’t be longer than a 2-3 minute read, and when the word count of an infographic is actually very low, there’s only so much you can say.

Essentially, all infographics are an introduction to a topic. Sometimes we actually make infographics that are lead-ins for our clients’ whitepapers.

Enter: The Infographic Whitepaper

Now we’re looking for a happy medium; a good balance between substance and entertainment. We’re not just interested in something because it’s shiny anymore, it’s got to be shiney, but also not waste our time, as well.

The infographic whitepaper is the perfect balance and you should expect to see more of the in the coming months. By taking the visual elements and general fun nature of the infographic and plugging it in to the actual useful information of a whitepaper, you’ve got something new entirely.

Have you com across something like this? A not-quite-an-infographic/not-quite-a-whitepaper? The infographic whitepaper is the ultimate informational chimera, and could very well change the way we expect to take in data.