{Trends Taking Root} - Infographics

Taking a break from sweet treats, today we are following the trend of infographics. Although they've been around for many years (Excel charts and Powerpoint graphs) recently, there has been a large increase in the number of well-designed data charts. Companies with annual reports often employ the skills of a graphic designer to make data both more interesting and easier to read, but now we see it everywhere from advertisements to opinion polls.

The idsgn blog featured a great article about whether infographics are good or evil as in whether or not the design is used to sway the data into appearing different than it actually is.

Going back through saved posts from various blogs there were several great examples of how infographics are being used. Check out a few of my favourites below:

Mashable - the best resource for digital culture, social media, and technology news - has a whole section devoted to stats portrayed through infographics. This snapshot below is from a chart featuring the history of advertising on Facebook.

[Mashable.com - Facebook Ad History Infographic snapshot]

Another great example comes from the team at Mash Creative with their "Really Useful Poster" series. (Via AisleOne)

[Really Useful Posters - Mash Creative (Via AisleOne)]

An example of infographics used for advertising from Mountain Goat Beer. (via I believe in advertising)

[Mountain Goat Beer - designed by Freeform Design]

This example comes via Oh So Beautiful Paper by design student Michael Arnold from his How To project.

[How to Project - Michael Arnold (via Oh So Beautiful Paper)]

This final poster by designer Ben Weeks (via The Canadian Design Resource), is the kind of poster we should all create and have hanging nearby to remind us of the great things in life.

[Things I love poster - Ben Weeks (via The Canadian Design Resource)]