What are animated statics and how to create a compelling one?

Storytelling has won the world not once. Before we even knew what that is, people of all times have been using it profusely. From mouth to picture, from picture to moving images, it has been evolving ever since.

Nowadays the shapes of storytelling have changed and found many other forms of existence. Even when we talk about something as static as stats, there are storytelling features in that. 

We are talking about data and statistics. Here’s a curious fact we found out: many of us weren’t drawn to such information in the past when the word “statistics” was supposed to mean an abundance of numbers and words.

However, the way data is presented now is a true sight for a sore eye. It is very easy to perceive and understand, it is fun and inventive.

There’s also a researcher’s word that supports the idea of infographics as a good learning tool: 

“Dale’s Cone of Experience is a model that incorporates several theories related to instructional design and learning processes. During the 1960s, Edgar Dale theorized that learners retain more information by what they “do” as opposed to what is “heard”, “read” or “observed”. His research led to the development of the Cone of Experience. Today, this “learning by doing” has become known as “experiential learning” or “action learning”. 

The best way for most of us is often a combination. A study – Dale’s Cone of Experience – found that people generally remember:

• 10% of what they read 
• 20% of what they hear 
• 30% of what they see 
• 50% of what they see and hear
• 70% of what they say and write
• 90% of what they do as they perform a task”.

Seems that infographics involve a bunch of these options. Even the one with participation. But wait, we will get there at the right time.

But why did we start from storytelling, you might wonder. Well, when an infographic is static — it is just a picture. When it is animated, you can see the signs of storytelling features there.

We, for once, have been using it in a variety of videos from different areas. Some of them were about important topics, some were rather for fun without losing the sense of curiosity and exploration that is inherent to this form of media.

Animated infographics are at their peak now. Whether they’re GIFs or videos, people in different areas use them to present a report or showcase important data. Even the most serious spheres like science always use it as a tool too.

What makes them so compelling for us? 

The question may have many layers but the fact is quite obvious: statistics have always been kind of a difficult area to present to a broader audience. To present it in a concise fashion was always a bit of a task.

Effectively designed data visualizations allow viewers to understand patterns in data across science, education, health, and public policy.

An animated infographic is a way of visualizing information using a variety of tools like illustrations, charts, graphs, text and other elements.

Its general aim is to make complex information easier to get by creating blocks and dividing information into different shapes.

What is the infographic video?

This animated video is about graphics and they explain the numbers that are on the charts made by a company. It makes it easy for others who are visiting the website to understand some concepts about the company and the products.

The infographics animated video will help to elevate numbers to the website because the audience will keep coming to the website. There are so many aspects that are covered when dealing with infographics. They grab the attention of the visitor and keep them glued to the information that is provided by the website.

To make the video, it is important to ensure that the animations are right because this will make it easy for the animator. Apart from the animation, it is important that the voice-over recording is also right because the illustrations will be accompanied by sound.

The sound design needs to be clear so that anyone watching the video will get a clear picture of what the video is about. Infographic videos must be clear and have the information a client or potential customer might be looking for. The information can be data or statistics that determine the course of action an investor or a consumer might need.

If your video is lacking clarity and can be potentially confusing to viewers, it’s not an effective marketing tool. To help simplify matters, you should consider adding infographics. It will make your message more vivid, entertaining, and informative. Where to apply it? Any marketing video will win with infographics – commercial, promo video, recruitment, or presentation video.

Many companies use it to widen their targeted audience. Another advantage is how you can get your message across in a shorter amount of time – even 10 seconds can be long enough to present some data in basic infographic blocks.

A 60-second infographic video can cost anywhere from $700 to $5,000. That’s the average price if you hire an agency. The cost of an infographic video depends on many factors: style, length, the scope of the video production service, script, and lots of other nuances. Take into account the fact that if you want to get it ready quicker, that will also add to the cost.

Since the making of an infographics video is a several-step procedure, it can take some time. A 1-minute illustrated video could take 2 to 4 weeks to produce. From our end, we can say that we always try to get the work done quickly, without sacrificing quality. If you decide to use our services, you can expect to receive a fantastic result at the end of production.

The best examples of animated infographics

Not all infographics have to be about some very deep information. In fact, many infographics are just fun and entertaining. But in any way, they are less curious.

For example, this stat about how men call their friends in different parts of the United States.

Often enough museums all over the world provide interactive infographics on their exhibits. A scientific animated infographic is especially interesting.

This is a great example used as part of an exhibit about submarine geology.

The interactive tsunami poster is on a touch screen with visualizations about everything about the tsunami.

“Last week I collaborated with Dr Sarah Low to explain ventilators in a series of animations. Sarah is an anesthesiology resident at Massachusetts General Hospital, and a leader of CoVent-19 – one of many efforts to address the ventilator shortage during the Covid-19 outbreak. The CoVent-19 organization is run by a team of thirteen medical doctors, including Sarah. Their goal is to teach engineers the basics of medical ventilation, in the hopes that new ventilation solutions can be engineered from existing equipment or repurposed supplies.” 

Tabletop Whale is a science illustration and interactive infographics blog. When COVID hit us, this was one of the very subtle explanations of how doctors work with their patients.

This infographic is so beautiful it doesn’t even require any words. But we will say it anyway.

“I checked out six butterfly field guides from the library and picked out some of the species I thought were the most unique and beautiful. It’s meant as a chart of decorative species illustrations rather than an educational infographic. So it doesn’t have as much information as my other posts, but I did draw everything as true to life as I could. The book I used the most for this project was Butterflies of North America by Brock JP and Kaufman K.” Says Tablecloth.

This is the beauty of infographics – it makes you dive deeper into the topic and enjoy its design.

Much of the visual content at the moment is closer to the video game experience than ever. Creators want to provide users with immersive experiences.

This is where interactive features work best, providing us with a deep look into something we must know in order to act.

For example, here we can see great animated features that show a species that can simply become extinct. No one wants that. But not many people might be aware of this fact.

Amsterdam-based Designer Bryan James commenting on his work here: 

“The idea did come from just tinkering with whether or not the CSS polygon code would work in-tow with CSS transitions and much to my delight, they did with aplomb. From there, I decided to draw up an animal, which later became Piece 1, Hawaiian Crow. While doing that first species, I thought of the “pieces” element of the idea, the fact that there are animals in “pieces,” and from there the idea whirl-winded a bit.

I’m especially proud of the research I did, because for some of the species that was very, very tough. But generally, I can mainly just be proud that people appear to have been touched by it – aside from any technical viewpoints, tricks etc — if you actually make someone feel something. Well, that is a very special feeling indeed.”

In Pieces

The risk of confusion

“A good diagram is not an illustration, but a visual argument,” states Alberto Cairo at the beginning of his book “How Charts Lie”. If a good diagram is a visual argument, a bad diagram can be a confusing tool—or it can also be a visual argument, but deceptive and persuasive.

In any case, by organizing and presenting data, we invite people to draw certain conclusions.  Just as a verbal argument can be logical or emotional, harsh or confusing, honest or misleading, so can an argument made with a diagram. So the question animators should ask themselves is whether their choice of animation graphs is not misleading or hard to get.

Data visualization as a profession

But data visualisation with animation means is not limiting the whole phenomenon of visual storytelling when it comes to statistics.

Recently the profession of a data journalist appeared on the market. Since newspapers and magazines have moved online, this is a hybrid profession that combines data analytics and journalism. In some versions of the profession, these people visualize data, find relationships in the data suitable for an analytical article, and draw graphs.

Why is an animated infographic better than a static one?

1. Your static infographics get a new life once they become animated.
2. Easier to get to the point.
3. Make complicated concepts easier to understand by simply providing some movement and directing what a viewer should look first at.
4. Have the storytelling ability or be built entirely in a storytelling style.
5. Catch the viewer faster.
6. Provide a great understanding of the topic and entertain viewers at the same time.
7. Engage better.
8. Combines a few main learning techniques.
9. Provide narration.
10. Gives a lighter mood.

3 types of animated infographics

No matter how many animated infographics there are in different areas, the types of them aren’t so many.

Gifs — the first and most common form of infographics that doesn’t require much and provide wonderful results.

Animated infographics video – a more spatial way of delivering information that usually requires a voice-over artist, more features, and a complex structure.

Interactive infographics – a way of letting a viewer actively participate in the experience of learning something. In the previous forms of animated infographics, you just consume information. That is the only possible interaction.

In order to enrich and optimize a viewer experience, you can use interactive infographics.

Many museums and scientific exhibitions use it at displays.

It is also becoming a part of creative environments, offices, and high-tech spaces. Its utility is beyond expectations and maybe its development is faster than the others on this list.

Conclusion

Visual communication has always been a vital thing when it comes to conveying big data. Complex messages are not so terrifying in colored charts as lots of words are scattered on the pages.

Image is really worth much, according to popular saying which we see no reason to repeat once again. But its ability to make things much easier to comprehend in our time is very helpful.

If you want to present an infographic video that will wrap up some important data for your company, say no more. We are here to help you with that task. At each stage we will discuss it with you, making it as close as possible to your vision.

That’s it!