The age old question of “what is an infographic” keeps coming up everywhere, most recently with this question on Quora. The only answer was that it was a graph that helped you understand data more easily. Unfortunately it’s not that simple.
Infographics may contain graphs, but a standalone graph does not an infographic make. Rather, infographics are a visual storytelling medium designed to tell a complex story in a way that is easily digestible. So while your infographic may contain a graph or two, an infographic needs to have more information. Like a story, it will have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Typically you will start with a broad concept and work your way to specifics using supporting evidence. Above all else, your infographic should be well-researched and the sources should be listed to indicate the validity of the claims you are making.
As for the difference between an infographic and an image, infographics typically contain multiple images, but one image alone isn’t enough to tell the story. As with the graph, images are just part of the visual storytelling medium.
Do you have any questions you’d like for me to answer? Leave them in the comments below and I’ll do my best!
In case you were still wondering what an infographic looks like