Typography, Headlines and Infographics

a more substantial statistical base, so their results more accurately reflect
a group’s responses. A poll generally requires a sampling of no less than
10 percent of a group to get a representative sample. Furthermore, great
care must be taken when tabulating the results to ensure accuracy.

Choosing the Best Format Once you or your team has
developed a concept for an infographic and gathered statistics for it,
you’re ready to choose the best format for your infographic. Designers
usually choose from one of four main types: fever chart, pie graph, bar
chart and table. The following examples will give you an idea of what
each type looks like and what each does best.
A fever chart plots numbers recorded over time. It resembles a chart
tracking the rising and falling temperatures of a person with a fever. The
“fever line” is produced by plotting different points and then connecting
the dots. The fever chart works well to illustrate questions about money
or quantities that have changed over a period of months or years. A line
that rises or falls dramatically will make a bigger impression on readers
than one that barely shows a blip.
A pie graph divides a whole into its parts, usually by percentages.
It looks like a circle with individual wedges, each representing a differ-
ent component. (Imagine a pizza cut into six or eight slices.) As a rule of
thumb, pie graphs should be divided into no more than eight segments.
Beyond that, the slices are too thin. To create additional impact, you can
make pie graphs from drawings or photos of the items being measured.
You could slice a dollar bill into sections, for example, to show how the
school district spends its money.
A bar chart consists of parallel, usually vertical, bars whose lengths
represent different quantities. A bar chart is similar to a fever chart in
that it represents quantities over time. Unlike a fever chart, however,
which tends to focus on trends, a bar chart is used to make comparisons.
A bar chart, for example, is a great way to show how many more three-
point shots the basketball team made this year than last year. To add
visual impact, the bars may be screened or shadowed.
A table displays a series of numbers or words. Tables may contain a
good deal of text. For example, you could create a table showing holi-
day trends by superimposing words over a cartoon of Santa Claus. On
the left, under a heading “What’s OUT,” you could list items such as
“Price-no-object shopping,” “Cashmere sweaters,” “Nintendo” and
“Oyster dressing.” On the right, under a heading “What’s IN,” you could
list “Backyard snowball fights,” “Gift cards to the local gas station,”
“Sweatshirts” and “Playstation 3.”

Creating the Infographic No matter what the topic,
each infographic must contain certain essential elements. George Rorick,
architect of six different news services for print and broadcast graphics,
says the following five items should appear in every infographic:

1. Headline. The headline is usually an easy-to-read label.


2. Body. The body of an infographic consists of the raw data
   or numbers.


3. Credits. The person or persons who created the info-
   graphic should be identified.

TYPOGRAPHY, HEADLINES AND INFOGRAPHICS^371

fever chart

a chart that plots numbers

recorded over time

pie graph

a circle with individual

wedges, each representing

a different component. A pie

graph divides a whole into

its parts, usually by percent-

ages.

bar chart

a chart or graph that consists

of parallel, usually vertical,

bars whose lengths represent

different quantities

table

a graphic element that

displays a series of numbers

or words