The infographic you need right now

We are all experiencing the effects of the COVID-19 virus. It dominates our private, professional and social lives. It impacts our society as a whole. As a result, the news is dominated by the virus. Did you notice how much of this information is communicated visually?

Cleary I don’t have to dedicate this blog to explain what the impact of visual communication is. Especially in times like these, making sense of the world around us, our new reality, is something we all need. Information is therefore crucial to people. Gaining knowledge about the virus, makes us feel like we have some control of the situation. Infographics help us do that. They have the ability to communicate even the most difficult of messages, quickly, correctly and memorably. They help us understand and make sense of our new reality.

This makes it very important that the infographics about COVID-19 communicate the correct message. No matter the level of visual literacy, visuals communicating any kind of information regarding Corona should be accessible, understandable and explanatory. So what makes one flatten the curve better than the other? Why is one symptom infographic easier to understand than the other? Often the devil is in simplicity.

Let’s take a look at my three favorites (so far).  

Flatten the curve by Julian Montague

Simple yet effective. The red color and high peak both instantly communicate ‘trouble’. The system’s capacity line enhances this; you clearly see that the peak exceeds something. The shape and use of color trigger emotion. The text used is strictly functional; not too much, not too little. Balanced, clear, effective. 

The importance of social distance by The New York Times

Insight at a glance; six feet around an infected person indicates the infectious zone. When you take a second look, the information is compared to other viruses which provides you context. You can now compare the information with each other. The design is clear which makes it highly effective; by only using color for the contagious area the eye draws automatically to the most important information.

Contagiousness by Popular Science

Again a very quick and easy to understand graphic. The comparisons made here allows you to assign meaning to the COVID-19 information; how bad is it in comparison to other viruses? This layer of information is strengthened by the fact that each virus is ranked on contagiousness. Making it very easy to visually compare each virus. The color-coding makes it easy to distinguish between types of information. Because the explanation of the color code is placed in the center of the graphic, I don’t have to search around the entire infographic to understand what the colors represent.

In my opinion all examples excel because they are simple: clearly focused around one topic, only representing the necessary information, using text where needed, using placement and color as additional layers of information. Individually the elements hold information, together they create meaning. 

Legal Design | Designed for Insight

PS: for the enthusiasts among us. My all-time favorite that I did not include, simply because it does require a high(er) level of visual literacy, but is amazing: https://nextstrain.org/ncov.