IdN Video, Volume 18 #04
The project Calango did together with Fabrique and C41 is published in IdN Video. This time IdN selected infographics from all over the world and bundled it on a DVD, which you can order here:
http://idnworld.com/video/?id=v18n4
Watch the project here, SNS Reaal Jaarverslag
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Visual compilations of the latest and most brilliant moving images. Infographic: {Making information com alive is like weaving a technicolour dreamcoat}.
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We all come across infographics design every day - in the leaflets we pick up from the bank, the competition details on the box of cereal we dip into for breakfast, school textbooks used by our kids, the maps and signage of the buildings and parks and museums that we visit, the roadsigns we observe as we're driving...
The essential function of infographics is to help us make sense of a lot of information or data that would otherwise be difficult to absorb. Clarity and ease of understanding are the basic goals of this design genre - and the same goes for motion-graphics devoted to it.
However, before the filmmaker can even start thinking about how to approach his/her material, he must absorb an awful lot of information. "The first thing I do is to gather the data and put it together in a spreadsheet or database so that I can sort it in the way that I wish, "explains Norwegian designer Bjorn Rostad. "I also do the necessary maths and calculate my formulas to extract the exact information I'm looking for. Sometimes the spreadsheets can be hundreds of pages long. Needles to say, it's a very time-consuming task. I get a sense of how I want to visually present the data along the way. The question is: How can I make this data as easy to understand in as little time as possible?"
It is the question that all infographic motion creators have to think about - how best to arrive at a thorough understanding of the information to be conveyed in the initial stage of the creative process. Especially with a tight schedule. For those of you who may be faced by such a dilemma - and for others simply interested in the solution - we have gathered together some great work by people who triumphantly faced this challenge.
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Among all these films, there is one very special video, which involved the staff from the client's company in presenting its 2010 annual report inside two minutes. "The visual style is derived from the theme 'Simplicity In Finance' and, since it is the people from SNS Reaal who provide that simplicity, we decided to use them in the video," says Jeroen Krielaars, founder of the studio Calango. "This human factor keeps it far away from being just dry numbers and charts. The minimalist style of the acting, sets, graphics and music works well to ensure a simple and clean result. When trying to get information across, it is always best to keep things simple."
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Motion infographics are to be found everywhere - on the internet, in TV commercials and programmes, and in educational films. Their basic goal is to help the viewer digest the information presented to them as painessly, indeed pleasurably, as possible. But how do designers set about this? How do they absorb all the material they need to understand before deciding how to demonstrate it? And to what extent does the type of data to be illustrated affect the visual outcome? We have selected more than 30 brilliant infographic motion works, movies and animations, to show you how lively and aesthetically pleasing such instructional efforts can be.