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Aleksandra Todorova

published on December 29, 2011 in Storytelling

What could be worse than a poorly designed infographic? A poorly sourced one.

Too many infographics and data visualizations are put together after hardly a perfunctory Google search or a quick trip to Wikipedia. As a result, much too often these days we see infographics that end with something like this (we've toned down the colors on purpose, so the original piece isn't easily identifiable - no need to point fingers):

... or this:

... or this:

The amount of sources used in the first two examples is headache inducing. But that's not the only reason they've been subjected to this questionably honorable spotlight.

In the first example, you can tell the author did a good deal of Googling (try "comparative price report with AHA data addition" and note the first search result - now find it on that list. Repeat the words in any link in which you see "%").

The author of the second example references Google Answers, in addition to several websites of questionable origin and authority... you know that's the case when you see a domain with an Alexa rank of 732,206.

And in the third example, we can only assume Wikipedia played a major role as a resource, along with something published on Mashable, where dozens of articles, blog posts, infographics and videos are uploaded daily.

Why is this wrong? Infographics have become a widely popular form of content, and that puts a weight on the shoulders of the design community: to make sure the information they visualize is not only accurate, but the most appropriate information/ data for the topic in question.

Say, for example, that you need a number for the population of Oregon for an infographic. Do you reference:

1. Google's public data explorer (No.1 Google search result!)

2. the U.S. Census Bureau

The first link has information from 2009. The other two quote the 2010 U.S. Census: the population of Oregon is 3,831,074, per the 2010 U.S. Census.

Clearly, the number-one Google search result is outdated. The second one is accurate, but it's not the original source. This Wikipedia contributor didn't personally send out a team to count all Oregon residents last year: the kind folks with the U.S. Census Bureau did.

And so the correct answer to our question is C.: the appropriate source for this data is the original source, the U.S. Census Bureau.

Tracking down and using the original source for a piece of data or information is the first and most important step in researching and sourcing data for infographics. Fail to do that, and you may be republishing information that was wrong, wrongly referenced or misrepresented. It'll only get worse if someone else picks up - or quotes - your infographic, giving new life the false or outdated information.

Here are the top five rules of proper sourcing.

1. Track down the original source and confirm the data

Instead of using information you saw quoted in a New York Times article, a blog or any other (traditional or social) media outlet, pay attention to the source quoted in that article. Journalists and bloggers aren't supposed to simply make up numbers - they report those numbers, based on what sources tell them. Rather than taking the information you read on the web for granted, track it down to the organization, company or government authority that released it. That is your source, not the media outlet that published it.

2. Make sure you're using the most recent data available

Surveys and reports get outdated - fast. A good rule of thumb: if a data set is older than 2009, then chances are there is more recent data available. (Even from the government.) Get back to work and find it.

3. Do not, ever, source information from user-generated content websites

Wikipedia is a wonderful source of facts, obscure and obvious alike. Yahoo and Google Answers are amazingly well SEO-ed. But when it comes to sourcing, those are off limits. Why? For starters, you can never be 100% sure who wrote the article or answer you are using as your source, where they got their information and whether it's the best one out there. It could even be wrong. Someone could have made up a bunch of facts, put them on their blog and then written an article on Wikipedia sourcing that blog. Does that make those "facts" legit?

4. 99% of the Web is just your starting point

What you can do is use Wikipedia as a starting point: click through the quoted resources at the bottom of the article, follow the information path (i.e. rule number one: track down the original source and confirm the data). The same goes for any blog or website you come across containing data or facts you'd like to use. Find out where they got their facts, confirm them, then credit the appropriate source. As for Yahoo Answers or any other UGC website... unless they attributed what they're saying properly, just forget it.

5. Limit the number of sources you're using

Cliché, but true: Less is more. The more sources you use, the better the chance that you create one of those forever-long infographics that have so many different charts and graphs that just scrolling down to the end gives you carpal tunnel. One to three great data sets, on the other hand, are plenty for creating an informative - but not overwhelming - infographic or data visualization. And let's face it: the fewer the sources, the smaller the chance that you mess things up with a bad or wrong piece of information.

So, all said and done, how should a source list look?

Here are three of my favorites:

What Are the Odds? references a blog post written by a Harvard professor who conducted all the research used in the infographic. The designer, in fact, worked closely with the Harvard professor himself.

Why Startups Fail was produced in collaboration with the Startup Genome Project, which researched and supplied Visual.ly with all the data needed for the infographic.

Each of the organizations sourced in our #WhiteFriday infographic is the original/ most authoritative source for the respective piece of information used.

It's harder and more time consuming than grabbing whatever facts pop up on the top three Google search results - but in the end, if you're going to spend hours or days on an amazing design, why sabotage your work with bad sources?

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Source Code: 5 Rules of Researching Infographics

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What could be worse than a poorly designed infographic? A poorly sourced one. Too many infographics and data visualizations are put together after hardly a perfunctory Google search or a quick trip to Wikipedia.

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How often does a map change the world? In 1854, one produced by Doctor John Snow, altered it forever.

In the world of the 1850s, cholera was believed to be spread by miasma in the air, germs were not yet understood and the sudden and serious outbreak of cholera in London's Soho was a mystery.

So Snow did something data journalists often do now: he mapped the cases. The map essentially represented each death as a bar, and you can see them in the smaller image above.

It became apparent that the cases were clustered around the pump in Broad (now Broadwick) street.

There were some outliers though and Snow wrote that:

In some of the instance , where the deaths are scattered a little further from the rest on the map, the malady was probably contracted at a nearer point to the pump

One 59-year-old woman sent daily for water from the Broad street pump because she liked its taste. Wrote Snow:

I was informed by this lady's son that she had not been in the neighbourhood of Broad Street for many months. A cart went from broad Street to West End every day and it was the custom to take out a large bottle of the water from the pump in Broad Street, as she preferred it. The water was taken on Thursday 31st August., and she drank of it in the evening, and also on Friday. She was seized with cholera on the evening of the latter day, and died on Saturday

At a local brewery, the workers were allowed all the beer they could drink - it was believed they didn't drink water at all. But it had its own water supply too and there were consequently fewer cases.

In nearby Poland street, a workhouse was surrounded by cases but appeared unaffected: this was because, again, it had its own water supply.

It turned out that the water for the pump was polluted by sewage from a nearby cesspit where a baby's nappy contaminated with cholera had been dumped. But he didn't just produce a map; it was one part of a detailed statistical analysis.

As the Public Health Perspectives blog says, it changed how we see data visualisations, and how we see microbes. Snow was born 200 years ago this week and is the subject of an exhibiton at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

But how would those deaths look for a data journalist today?

Thanks to Robin Wilson at Southampton University, we have the data. Robin painstakingly georeferenced every cholera death and pump location, so we could recreate the map on a modern layout of London. We wondered what would happen if we tried to recreate the map using a modern tool, opting to try CartoDB, using the the lovely Stamen 'toner' projection to at least keep the background in common with Snow's London.

An interactive version

As XKCD have pointed out, heatmaps or dotmaps have flaws, not least that they tend to show where the people are.

And the alternative is usually to aggregate the data, so that you could show, say, the incidence of cholera by geographical area - a choropleth. But in this case, would that have worked?

The cluster of dots around the Broad street pump were what alerted Snow to the cause of the outbreak.

Edward Tufte is interesting on this. He points out that

The big problem is that dot maps fail to take into account the number of people living in an area and at risk to get a disease ... Snow's dot map does not assess varying densities of population in the area around the pump

But, as Tufte points out, this part of Soho was incredibly thickly populated. And "aggregations by area can sometimes mask and even distort the true story of the data". A choropleth map of the area might show that there was a cluster of cholera cases, but it might not, depending on where the boundaries are drawn. Mark Monmonier, author of How to lie with maps has examined this.

But there's another key point here: in the event of an outbreak like this now, it's inconceivable that the government would publish the data on grounds of privacy; that the victims' addresses were personal data.

As data journalists, we agonise over how to represent the true impact of an event. Maps are often the first thing to reach for because it's easy: the tools are now just so easy to use and so much data is geographic. Although they are often mightily popular with readers, it's probably not always the right choice. Trying harder to show the data in different ways is an honourable objective.

But when they work, maps can tell a story in a language that everyone can understand.

Maybe Snow's map had such a huge impact on its own because it was simply a great data visualisation.

Robin Wilson has given us links to the data below. What can you do with it?

Download the data

* DATA: download the full spreadsheet as a Google Fusion table
* Available in more formats here

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Data journalism and data visualisations from the Guardian
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Can you do something with this data?

* Flickr Please post your visualisations and mash-ups on our Flickr group
* Contact us at data@guardian.co.uk
Topics

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John Snow's data journalism: the cholera map that changed the world

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How often does a map change the world? In 1854, one produced by Doctor John Snow, altered it forever. In the world of the 1850s, cholera was believed to be spread by miasma in the air, germs were not yet understood and the sudden and serious outbreak of cholera in London's Soho was a mystery.

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After we celebrated the joy of hand-drawn travel maps in an online gallery, we were inundated with readers' comments and mails and suggestions of other maps they loved or had created themselves. Here is the pick of the bunch

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Hand-drawn maps: readers' favourites - in pictures

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After we celebrated the joy of hand-drawn travel maps in an online gallery, we were inundated with readers' comments and mails and suggestions of other maps they loved or had created themselves. Here is the pick of the bunch

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Distilling the world’s data, information & knowledge into beautiful infographics & visualizations

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The Black Route

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They've made it 1,600 miles by boat, train, car and on foot. Now the light is fading as they finally reach the edge of Greece. "Let's move," Ahmed Jinaid beckons, his family trailing him up a hill in high grass. But then he stops.

He is standing beside an abandoned watchtower near the northern border, the one after which there's supposed to be no talking and, worse for a man with a weakness for Winstons, no smoking. The 42-year-old former deliveryman squints at his white Samsung Galaxy phone.

He is looking for directions.

"No, no, no," he mutters, blinking at the glowing screen. "What happened to the GPS?"

Ahmed is eight weeks out of Syria, part of a historic exodus of Arabs, Africans and Asians fleeing war and oppression. More than 102,000 migrants have risked the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe this year, outpacing even 2014's record arrivals.

Many land in Italy, but a surging number of migrants are coming ashore in Greece. From there, they venture north through the Balkans to the rest of the European Union - a web of perilous trails stretching hundreds of miles. Aid workers have nicknamed it the Black Route. Ahmed had meticulously plotted the trek on his phone's GPS.

On a steep hill ahead, the gaudy glow of red neon burns. That's Macedonia and the casino town they need to avoid. Gangs armed with guns and lead pipes roam the woods, beating and robbing migrants. There are corrupt police on the route. Heat-seeking cameras. Mountains. Wolves.

Ahmed is limping from days of walking. A mysterious pain is knifing through his back. The untreated goiter on his neck - the one he tries to hide with his jacket collar - is throbbing.

He taps the Samsung screen again. It's frozen.

His smartphone. It cost $275 on the black market back in Aleppo, just shy of three months' salary. His compass. Lodestar. A lifeline for the modern migrant, who journeys to the First World by the grace of the mobile Internet.

"Uncle," whispers Marwa Jinaid, Ahmed's shy 19-year-old niece. A kindergarten teacher with flawless copper skin who is used to afternoons coloring with kids, she lets go of the hand of her 11-year-old brother, Mohamed. He's the family comedian, the kid who endured the past few years of war in Syria by watching "Tom & Jerry" cartoons in Arabic. But he has suddenly run out of jokes. And Marwa is hugging herself in a beige winter coat despite the warm spring night.

Bandits, she knows, are capable of more than thievery.

"Uncle," Marwa says again, on the verge of tears.
"What are we going to do?"

Ahmed is taking his niece and nephew to their father, Ismail, who fled Syria last year and is now living in a pastel village called Gmünd in Austria. Theirs is a journey prompted by the desperation of war. It also reflects the dysfunction of the European Union.

That's because many of the Syrians and Iraqis landing in Greece stand a good chance of qualifying for legal asylum. But there is little work and few prospects for aid in this bankrupt country. Farther north, in promised lands such as Austria, France, Germany and Sweden, asylum means shelter, a generous stipend and the prospect of a good job. The European Union, however, offers no safe passage there. Hence the Black Route.

Ahmed Jinaid stows his smartphone.

"You'll see your father soon," he says, looking reassuringly at Marwa and Mohamed. He motions to two others to follow: his brother-in-law, who has tagged along on the journey, and a Syrian teen they took in along the way.

"It's okay," Ahmed says. "God will guide us."

Twenty days before arriving at the Macedonian border, Ahmed, along with his niece, nephew and brother-in-law, had disembarked from a 50-foot pleasure cruiser on the shore of a tiny Greek island, Tilos.

Seventy-five people had been herded into the boat meant for 30. Each adult paid the Ukrainian smugglers $2,000 for the 12-hour trip from Turkey.

Ahmed and his brother, Ismail, had already sold virtually everything of value they owned to help finance the trip. Ismail's two cars. Ahmed's delivery truck. After paying smugglers, Ahmed had a few thousand euros left.

If things went precisely as planned, it might just be enough.

On shore that day, there was a sense of relief. Finally, they had made it to Greece. this bolded graf disappeared and mary beth asked that it be reinstated. bolded it since you're counting grafs for this. Europe! A sunny pebble beach alongside the crystalline Aegean. Marwa - after spending her sea journey pale and vomiting - smiled under her black-and-silver headscarf. Mohamed played cat-and-mouse with the waves, giggling as the water caught his sneakers. Looking up, he flashed a grin at his Uncle Ahmed, who was recording the scene on his phone.

Their father had not wanted his children to come this way. A math teacher before his school closed due to bombings, Ismail Jinaid had traveled from Aleppo to Austria, figuring he would seek asylum and bring over his family with proper visas.

But the plan fell apart. Ismail was only granted temporary status, which didn't allow him to sponsor his family. So he decided to game the system. If 11-year-old Mohamed could get to Austria, he could file for asylum. As a minor, he could petition to bring in his mother, who would then try to sponsor his 16-year-old brother.

More and more desperate Syrians like the Jinaids were pouring into Greece. They were hardly welcome. On the much larger neighboring island of Kos, overwhelmed with more than 7,000 migrants in the first four months of the year, arrivals were being crammed into a fetid husk of a hotel with no working toilet, no electricity and halls piled with rotting food.

But on Tilos, population 299, it was different. Marwa and Mohamed got clean sleeping mats inside an old Orthodox monastery that serves as the island's refugee camp. Ahmed and his brother-in-law, Mostafa Haj Mohamed, 27, slept under the stars, with blankets and cushions. That night, a British retiree came over and cooked them a hearty lentil stew.

Within days, the family boarded a ferry to Athens, where they would await instructions from their smuggler. They had paid him over $12,000 in Turkey. He was a Syrian, recommended by other migrants. The man who could get them to Austria.

Three weeks after landing in Tilos, Ahmed and his family were sitting at an outdoor cafe in the northern Greek town of Evzonoi, their backpacks strewn by their feet. The Hara restaurant was a staging ground for migrants, mostly Syrians, trying to make it through nearby Macedonia. Men compared maps, and listened to tips from those who - attacked by bandits - had limped back into Greece.

Ahmed, nursing the pain in his back with an occasional rub, looked worn out. Marwa, Mostafa and Mohamed quietly sipped soft drinks and water, barely touching the turkey pizza on the table. They had made it about 600 miles through Greece, and the worst part, they knew, was just ahead.

Now a stranger came by, pulling up an empty chair. For a fee, the man said, he could get them across the border.

Ahmed declined. He'd had his fill of smugglers.

Their own smuggler had instructed them to take a train from Athens to the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki. They were to travel with another of the man's clients, Ahmed Abd Elhai, a 17-year-old from Damascus. Someone, the smuggler said, would meet them all at the station.

But when the train pulled in to Thessaloniki, there was no one.

They called.

The smuggler's number was no longer in service.

"Since I lost the money to the smuggler, all the family back home blames me," Ahmed was now saying, fiddling with his can of Coke. "I don't think about tomorrow now. I just think about what we need to do next."

What he did next: Outside the train station in Thessaloniki, Ahmed had paid a taxi driver 300 euros, about $330, to take the five of them to the Macedonian border, 52 miles north.

After 10 minutes, the cabbie told them to get out.

Then they hiked along train tracks for two days, nearly getting hit.

Finally, the family had arrived at Evzonoi, a 90-minute walk from the Macedonian border. The 17-year-old they had traveled with now sat by Ahmed Jinaid's side, helping him to plot a safe course on the smartphone. A gentle young man with perfectly straight, absolutely white teeth, Elhai wanted to go to Germany to become a dentist.

The older Ahmed began to swipe through photos on his phone. There was his younger brother Khaled, back in Syria, confined to a wheelchair after a stray bullet hit his spine. Ahmed wondered when he would see him again.

Then he looked at one last photo. It showed two of his boys, ages 8 and 9.

He had left them at home near Aleppo, along with his three daughters, his infant son and his wife, who was still recuperating from a bullet wound from a sniper. Ahmed wanted to get his family out legally, once he arrived in Austria. But with all the trouble his brother was having, Ahmed fretted it wouldn't work.

"You must understand," he said, turning away, embarrassed by his tears. "I love my brother more than myself. He needs me to bring his children. If I have to go back the same way I came for my own family, I still need to do this for him."

He dried his eyes. If they were lucky, they could cross Macedonia in two days and reach Serbia.

Five days later, a Tito-era clunker of a train lurched into Track 2 at Belgrade Central. Hundreds of glassy-eyed migrants started to jump off the train even before it came to a full stop.

Five figures moved among the disembarking passengers. Huddled together, they looked spent. But they were still alert enough to spot a Serbian cop. Uncle Ahmed and the others instinctively lowered their heads.

After their trek in the wilds of Macedonia, the city of Belgrade, its cars honking, its streetcars dinging, was disorienting. Mostafa drifted onto the street. An oncoming car swerved as Ahmed yanked his young brother-in-law back by his shirtsleeves. Mostafa registered the near miss with a dull gaze.

The family was silent.

"We would only die once in Syria," Ahmed finally said. "Here we are dying 5,000 times."

They had 72 hours to leave Serbia. That was according to the papers that officials are giving nearly all refugees caught crossing the border from Macedonia. The family spotted a spare, grimy flophouse charging $11. The Jasmin Hostel.

Ahmed stepped into their room, gingerly removing his shoes and peeling off his disintegrated socks. His feet, covered with walnut-size blisters, seemed somehow bent. He leaned back on the hard mattress, wincing from the mysterious pain in his side, and fished for a Winston. Then he lit up, closing his eyes, exhaling thankfully.

"You won't believe what we've been through," Ahmed said.

On their first night, he said, they hiked through the forest. A wolf tracked them for hours.

"I prayed," Marwa interjected.

The second night, they walked dozens of miles more. And then they encountered the fellow migrant who delivered the news: They had effectively walked in a circle. So Ahmed put the family on a train to the Macedonian capital of Skopje.

"I thought we would make it," Ahmed said, studying his Winston. But when they got off the train, the conductor pointed them out to the police.

They were hauled off to a prisonlike encampment and locked in a cell with 24 other would-be refugees - mostly men. The next morning, the police drove them to a village near the Serbian border, then instructed them to follow a man who would take them the rest of the way. He instead took them to a house where they were held by a gang.

"They demanded 400 euros per person, just to let us go," Ahmed said. The gang finally accepted half.

The family crossed the Serbian border, where the next batch of police hauled them in. They photographed the group one by one. The cops barked at Marwa to take off her headscarf. The male officers watched as she was forced to reveal her dark hair.

"She cried," Ahmed said.

He reached for another Winston, cupped it, lit it, then caressed his ruined feet. He had never been so tired. Never felt so defeated. The mood remained dark as they rested in Belgrade for another day.

Marwa, so used to a life around women in Syria, spent much of her time alone in a second room.

Only little Mohamed seemed immune. He hummed catchy Arabic tunes. At one point, sitting on a bed with everyone gathered round, he told a joke about a woman whose dentist warned her off sweets.

"So she went home and started eating sugar with a long spoon! When her husband asked her why, she said, 'Well, the dentist told me to stay far away from sweets!' "

He cracked up, hitting the mattress with his hands. The adults offered weak smiles.

The next morning, the family sipped strong coffee in the courtyard of the hostel as they stuffed cookies and bottled water into their backpacks for the bus to the border with Hungary. Just one more country to cross before Austria. But Marwa had reached her limit.

"I need them, please," she pleaded to her Uncle Ahmed, referring to the sleeping pills she was begging him to buy. "If we get caught again and go to another prison, I want to sleep through it. I have to."

She had never expected to go on this trip. Ahmed and Mohamed were already en route to the Turkish coast when her father, Ismail, had called her on that April morning. By then, she was living with her mother and brother in central Turkey, where they had escaped after their home town was attacked by Islamic State militants.

Ismail had learned that even if he was granted full asylum, he could not legally bring in Marwa, now 19 and no longer a minor. So there was only one way for her to reach Austria - with his younger brother.

"I never had time to think," she said.

Without her sleeping pills, which Ahmed refused on the grounds that they were bad for her health, Marwa took Mohamed's hand as they boarded the bus for Hungary. All but two passengers were Syrian refugees. During the four-hour drive through rolling farmland and drab villages, the migrants studied maps on their cellphones and exchanged travel tips.

Unlike in Serbia, the Hungarians were patrolling for migrants at the border and tossing them in jail before deporting them. Migrants could avoid all that if they filed for asylum in Hungary. But doing so would make it that much harder to claim asylum down the line in other E.U. countries - such as Austria.

Ahmed had another plan.

A fellow Syrian migrant had contacted him via WhatsApp the night before. "Brother," he had said in a recorded message. "I am already here in Hungary, and my friend can help you too." That friend was another smuggler.

If they could get over the border by 5 a.m., to the Hungarian village of Roszke, Ahmed could call the smuggler, who would be waiting in town. For 500 euros each - about $550 - the man could drive them all the way to Vienna.

Ahmed only had half that amount on him. But he would cross that delicate bridge when he came to it. Right now, he had a bigger problem. They had just gotten off the bus in Kanjiza, the end of the line. And they were being surrounded by the Serbian police.

"All of you," commanded a Serbian cop in a gray-blue uniform. "Over on the bench, and wait."

The five of them did as ordered. But as the cops busied themselves with another pair of migrants, Uncle Ahmed quietly got up with the rest of them and made a break for it. After a half-mile, two police cars raced up to them on the road.

Four officers piled out. Their commander swaggered over from a nearby brick building. The Jinaids, it seems, had unwittingly wandered in front of the Kanjiza police station.

"Everyone. Papers. Now," the commander barked.

Confusion ensued, in part linguistic. Finally, the commander used an interpreter.

"Are you going to a hotel?" he asked. "Are you staying here in Serbia?

"No," Ahmed answered in Arabic. "We are going to Hungary."

"Legally?" the commander asked.

"No, illegally," Ahmed answered. The four others looked at each other with raised eyebrows that asked whether honesty was truly the best policy.

"Uh, okay," the commander said while casually lighting a cigarette. "Then you're going the wrong way."

"It's that way," he said, helpfully pointing in the other direction.

For the next hour, they walked and walked. Semi trucks passed, too close for comfort. The five of them finally veered off into the underbrush. Bats flew overhead.

By now, it was 10 p.m., and they needed to get to Roszke by 5 a.m. to call their smuggler. They were only 10 miles from the village.

They were at a fork. One way went by a river, the other by a road. Even looking at his now-working GPS, Ahmed couldn't tell which one would get them to the unguarded border crossing they needed to take.

Ahmed chanced a call to their smuggler, a Syrian, who, told him, "Brother, I do not know the Serbian side of the border."

"God," the smuggler said, "must be your guide."

Ahmed chose the river.

He was so close to the smuggler's car and the final sprint to Austria. To finally delivering Marwa and Mohamed to their father, Ismail Jinaid.

"We will be there by 5 a.m.," Ahmed told the smuggler.
"Please do not forget us."

In the Austrian town of Gmünd, Ismail Jinaid, 47, was trying to concentrate over the din of an Arabic bread factory. It had been two days since Ahmed took his children into Hungary. And still, no word.

His smartphone was on a radiator a few feet away. He glanced at it constantly. But so far, every call had been a false alarm. His worried wife. His worried sister-in-law, Ahmed's wife. But no word from his children or brother.

The call finally came that evening, when he was sitting in his apartment. But it was the wrong Ahmed. Ahmed Abd Elhai. The 17-year-old the family picked up along the way.

In a crush of information, the teen explained that the family had made it to Roszke an hour before the deadline, but their phone didn't work. They could not reach their smuggler. They were hiding behind a grocery store in town when a police patrol spotted them.

But Ahmed Jinaid had prepared a backup plan. Older minors seeking refugee status, he knew, were routinely released from jail in Hungary. If the family was detained, he had instructed, Ahmed Abd Elhai should pretend to be little Mohamed's big brother.

When the 17-year-old was freed, the Hungarians at first refused to release the younger boy to his care, the teen was telling Ismail by phone. But Ahmed Abd Elhai had screamed and yelled, he recalled. He went back the next day to press his demand.

Now, he told Ismail, he had little Mohamed. And they were trying to get to Vienna.

The next afternoon, Ismail was walking down the broad boulevards of the former imperial city. He was searching out a small mosque, the agreed meeting place. He turned down a street leading to an immigrant neighborhood, past kebab shops, baklava bakers. A familiar scent of home. He had spent eight months in Austria, days baking bread, countless night alone, waiting. Now, his son was nearby.

Marwa, Mostafa and Ahmed were still locked in a prison in Hungary.

"I will see only one of my children," Ismail said as he approached the mosque. "But my brother. My daughter. They are still in jail."

He knocked once. And the doors to the darkened mosque opened. A ray of light shot in. There was a beaming 11-year-old.

"My darling," Ismail said, tears streaking his face as his son leapt into his arms. He held him tight.

"Father!" said Mohamed, pulling back, trying to speak.

But Ismail cut him off, hugging him close again, and silently hanging on.

Postscript: Ahmed, Marwa and Mostafa spent 15 days in the Hungarian jail. There, a doctor discovered that Ahmed had been suffering from a slipped disk. The trio were subsequently deported to Serbia. On the evening of June 3, the family made it from Serbia through Hungary in a smuggler's car, and secretly crossed the border into Austria. They are now in Gmünd. Ahmed Abd Elhai is now in Frankfurt, Germany.
Elinda Labropoulou in Athens contributed to this report.
Postscript: Ahmed, Marwa and Mostafa spent 15 days in the Hungarian jail. There, a doctor discovered that Ahmed had been suffering from a slipped disk. The trio were subsequently deported to Serbia. On the evening of June 3, the family made it from Serbia through Hungary in a smuggler's car, and secretly crossed the border into Austria. They are now in Gmünd.

Elinda Labropoulou in Athens contributed to this report.

Editor's note: To tell the story of the Jinaid family's journey, correspondent Anthony Faiola and photographer Charles Ommanney traveled with the Syrian migrants for four days, first along the Greek/Macedonian border and then in Serbia. Faiola and Ommanney also reported from the Greek island of Tilos, where the Jinaids made an early stop, and from the Austrian cities of Vienna and Gmünd, the Jinaids' ultimate destination.

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The 'Black Route' to Europe, and the story of a Syrian family who braved it

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They've made it 1,600 miles by boat, train, car and on foot. Now the light is fading as they finally reach the edge of Greece. "Let's move," Ahmed Jinaid beckons, his family trailing him up a hill in high grass. But then he stops.

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Matthias Schrader/Associated Press

This photo shows about 160 migrants in southern Hungary waiting to board a bus to a registration center on Sept. 9. They will be excluded from the only two relocation plans approved by European leaders so far. The plans will relocate a total of 160,000 people in Greece and Italy to other countries in Europe.

The plans add up to the largest agreement ever to distribute asylum seekers among member states. But they address only a small fraction of the expected total.

Almost 549,000 migrants have arrived in Greece, Italy and Hungary alone this year, often by boat. Many want to move on to Germany or Sweden, which have stronger job markets and more benefits for refugees.

Migrants can apply for asylum in order to receive legal protection and residence. So far this year, at least 794,000 people have applied for asylum in European countries.

The number of asylum seekers is projected to grow rapidly. Just six countries - Germany, Austria, Hungary, Sweden, the Netherlands and Finland - expect to receive a total of 1.3 million asylum applications by the end of the year.

The situation in Europe is only a smaller piece of the overall crisis. Countries in the Middle East that border Syria or Iraq, where conflict has displaced millions over several years, have accepted many more refugees than Europe. Asylum seekers in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan are expected to increase by almost a million in 2015, reaching 4.7 million by December.

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The Scale of the Migrant Crisis, From 160 to Millions

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Matthias Schrader/Associated Press This photo shows about 160 migrants in southern Hungary waiting to board a bus to a registration center on Sept. 9. They will be excluded from the only two relocation plans approved by European leaders so far. The plans will relocate a total of 160,000 people in Greece and Italy to other countries in Europe.

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Trump Promise Tracker

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This is the last of three dispatches from a New York Times reporting trip to Antarctica.

From the air, the Ross Ice Shelf looks like a vast white plain extending to the horizon. The monochromatic landscape is relieved only occasionally by rocks poking through, or by deep crevasses in the ice itself.

Only at its edge does the ice shelf become something more dramatic: a spectacular sheer cliff rising 100 feet above the ocean and extending 900 feet below the surface. From that cliff edge, icebergs occasionally calve away, completing a thousand-year journey of the ice from land to sea.

Scientists are racing to understand what is happening to the Ross Ice Shelf - and the rest of Antarctica - as the planet warms around it. They are trying to map the thickness of the ice and the shape of the sea floor beneath it in an effort to gauge how vulnerable the shelf may be to collapse, and how soon that could happen.

Scientists are also trying to measure the role of human-caused climate change in weakening some parts of the West Antarctic ice sheet, and to fathom how damaging the seas around the continent might prove to be as they warm over time.

The answers carry profound implications for humanity. In the scientists' worst-case computer simulations, continued global warming will cause the Ross Ice Shelf to weaken and collapse starting as early as the middle of this century.

Right now, the shelf works like a giant bottle-stopper that slows down ice trying to flow from the land into the sea. If it collapses, the ice could flow into the ocean more rapidly, an effect that has already happened on a much smaller scale in other areas of Antarctica.

The most vulnerable parts of the West Antarctic ice sheet could raise the sea level by 10 to 15 feet, inundating many of the world's coastal cities, though most scientists think that would take well over a century, or perhaps longer. They are worried about a possible rise of as much as six feet by the end of this century.

Whether these alarming forecasts ultimately prove right depends in part on the shape of the sea floor beneath the ice shelf, and in particular on whether it has deep channels that can funnel warming ocean water under the ice shelf and attack the West Antarctic ice sheet from below. A different undersea topography - high ridges of rock, for example - may keep warmer water out, stabilizing the ice sheet, possibly for hundreds of years.

"We're hoping to figure out how warm water can get to the edge of the ice sheet," said Robin E. Bell, head of the Columbia University laboratory that sent a team to survey the Ross Ice Shelf late last year. "What are the sort of hidden roads it can go on?"

As they flew back and forth across the vast white landscape in December, the Columbia scientists used some of the world's most sophisticated geophysical instruments to see into and beneath the ice. As the hours-long flights wore on, the scientists took turns napping, knitting or eating cold pizza, but at all times, somebody kept close watch on the instruments.

Kirsty J. Tinto, the scientist leading the field team, loved watching as the measurements stripped away the illusion that the ice was just a flat, boring pancake.

"You take a slice through it and you can see a thousand years of history, a hundred million years of history," she said.

The Ross Ice Shelf appears stable now, so the Columbia project will function somewhat like a doctor's baseline X-ray - a starting point for comparison if the ice starts to deteriorate.

Satellite evidence suggests that this is already happening in other parts of West Antarctica, and many scientists believe that relatively warm ocean water is the culprit. "It's kind of a blowtorch on the underside of the ice shelf," said Robert A. Bindschadler, a retired NASA climate scientist.

But the story is not straightforward, and the warmer water attacking the ice has not been linked to global warming - at least not directly. The winds around the continent seem to be strengthening, stirring the ocean and bringing up a layer of warmer water that has most likely been there for centuries.

Are those stronger winds tied to human-caused global warming? Some scientists think so, but others say the case is unproven. "We're not sure because we don't have enough data, for long enough, to separate signal from noise," said Eric J. Steig, a scientist at the University of Washington who has studied temperature trends in Antarctica.

Though the role of global warming is unclear now, it is likely to be a factor in the relatively near future. Many experts think warmer air temperatures could start to weaken the ice of West Antarctica from above, even as warmer ocean water attacks it from below.

The warmer water seems to be doing the most damage to a series of glaciers that flow into a region of West Antarctica called the Amundsen Sea. Satellites have identified the most rapid loss of ice there, raising a critical question: Has an unstoppable collapse of the ice sheet already begun?

The Amundsen Sea region is one of the remotest parts of the continent, far from American and British research bases. Working together, the two countries are planning to devote tens of millions of dollars to getting better measurements there, having decided that it is imperative to begin answering questions about the region's potential collapse.

For instance, scientists need to know a lot more about the ground beneath the glaciers there. Is it slick mud that may allow the ice to flow much faster, or hard rock that may slow down the ice even in a warmer world?

"What we need to know is really the details of what is occurring where the ice, ocean and land all come together," said Ted A. Scambos, a University of Colorado scientist who is helping to plan the joint research effort.

Unraveling the answers, and gaining a better understanding of how Antarctica's ice has waxed and waned in the past, may offer a rough guide to the changes that human-caused global warming could wreak in the future.

Already, scientists know enough to be concerned. About 120,000 years ago, before the last ice age, the planet went through a natural warm period, with temperatures similar to those expected in coming decades.

The sea level was 20 to 30 feet higher than it is today, implying that the ice sheets in both Greenland and Antarctica must have partly disintegrated, a warning of what could occur in the relatively near future if the heating of the planet continues unchecked.

But some research suggests that a catastrophe might not yet be inevitable. In a study last year, Robert M. DeConto of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and David Pollard of Pennsylvania State University used their computer model to predict what would happen if emissions were reduced sharply over the next few decades, in line with international climate goals.

Under the most ambitious scenarios, they found a strong likelihood that Antarctica would remain fairly stable.

"There's still a chance that all hell will break loose," Dr. DeConto said. "But the model is suggesting there's a way to reduce the risk of a big sea-level rise from Antarctica."

In the immersive video below, we fly past a six-mile iceberg, a tiny fragment of the Ross Ice Shelf.

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Miles of Ice Collapsing Into the Sea (Published 2017)

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This is the last of three dispatches from a New York Times reporting trip to Antarctica. From the air, the Ross Ice Shelf looks like a vast white plain extending to the horizon. The monochromatic landscape is relieved only occasionally by rocks poking through, or by deep crevasses in the ice itself.

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After the Storm

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SCMP Infographics, Hong Kong. 1.2K likes. South China Morning Post's graphics department offers this site to share with you our latest works and more interesting stuff.

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Includes commercial imagery acquired and processed by DigitalGlobe; Nearmap; Geodatastyrelsen, FOT Orthophoto, 2014; LGV Hamburg; National Land Survey of Finland, NLS Orthophotos, 2014; LINZ Data Service ( CC BY 3.0 NZ); Geoportal Berlin, DOP orthophotos, 2014; Town of Banff Open Data Imagery; City of Kamloops Open Data Imagery ( Open Government License - Kamloops); NASA; USDA; and USGS.

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Tracking the impact of the president's policies

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The Best in Interactive Multimedia Journalism 2017: Pushing the Limits of Storytelling

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2017 was quite the year, for better or for worse, and brought with it a wide range of incredible journalism. But it also was a prolific…

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Discover the world with Google Maps. Experience Street View, 3D Mapping, turn-by-turn directions, indoor maps and more across your devices.

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Create Infographics, Reports and Maps - Infogram

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Infogram is an easy to use infographic and chart maker. Create and share beautiful infographics, online reports, and interactive maps. Make your own here.

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The World Economic Forum (WEF) is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva. It describes itself as an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. The Forum is best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland. The meeting brings together some 2,500 top business leaders, international political leaders, selected intellectuals and journalists to discuss the most pressing issues facing the world, including health and the environment.

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World Economic Forum - WEF | Data and Statistics - Kenya - knoema.com

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The World Economic Forum (WEF) is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva. It describes itself as an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

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Videos Bangladesh is vulnerable to natural disasters. Here's how it has learnt to cope
Bangladesh is one of the world's most climate-vulnerable countries. The country is prone to disasters such as cyclones, flooding and landslides. But in the past 50 years Bangladesh has made a lot of progress on climate resilience. Its journey began when it was hit by the deadliest cyclone in recorded history. In 1970 Cyclone Bhola took the lives of 300,000 people. Today, cyclones of comparable intensity cause 99% fewer fatalities in Bangladesh thanks to decades of investment in climate resilience.

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The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. Incorporated as a not-for-profit foundation in 1971, and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the Forum is tied to no political, partisan or national interests.

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This project is in partnership with Magnum Photos

About 70,000 years ago, a person - genetically identical to us in every way that matters - waded into the narrowest part of what is now the Red Sea between Eritrea and Yemen. He (or she, no one knows) made it safely to the other side. More than 7 billion of us have followed, according to the best available science, leaving a common home in Africa and scurrying across the planet.

We poured into the Middle East, followed the shoreline through Asia, paddled onto Australia. A separate group entered Europe through what is now Turkey. Still another band, traveling through present-day Russia, found a low tide bridge to North America. Future generations walked all the way through South America to modern Cape Horn. By about 15,000 years ago, humankind had encircled the globe.

We are all migrants, or the descendants of migrants, and the story of our movement is the story of humanity. But in recent years, that shared story - never without struggle - has sunk into a swamp of despair and dispossession unlike any previously seen. Nearly 60 million people are on the run for their lives, stateless and scared, fleeing war and persecution, according to the United Nations.

Of the 1 million refugees and migrants who arrived in Europe by sea in 2015, more than 400,000 landed on Lesbos, a 21st-century Ellis Island. Those pictured arrived in September.(Photos by Moises Saman/Magnum Photos and Alex Majoli/Magnum Photos)

We've seen some of this before. World War II produced about 60 million refugees in Europe alone. The fall of Saigon in 1975, the crash of the Iron Curtain in 1989, the war in Kosovo in the 1990s: Each pushed throngs of people out of their homes.

But there's a speed and asymmetry that's unique to today's crisis. There's also a backlash, a fear of cultural and economic change, exacerbated by the threat of terrorism. As a result, what were once dog whistles of discrimination in many countries are now foghorns.

World War II was a big bang that reduced whole cities to rubble. But it also had specific geography and a clear end-point. The current migrant crisis stems from 15-or-so conflicts that have erupted or reignited in the past five years, blended with the lingering embers of older wars, especially in Latin America.

Most Americans are familiar with the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and possibly Syria's foul and bloody civil war. But what about the Yemeni Civil War? Or the clash between rival governments in Libya? Or the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians forcibly displaced within their own borders?

The United Nations counts eight distinct conflicts in Africa alone. Analysts say it's all likely to get worse. New conflicts start, even as old conflicts fester, fathering woe for generations.

In 1999, thousands of Kosovar refugees crossed the border into Albania, including these people on a tractor. They fled a crackdown against ethnic Albanians.(Photo by Paolo Pellegrin/Magnum Photos)

In a recent Gallup poll, a quarter of Afghans said they wanted to leave. That's 10 million people. Another recent poll, of Nigerians, found that 40% "would leave if they could." That's a potential pool of 37 million people.

And here's the thing: They can leave when they want to, or at least they can try. Unlike the poor, huddled masses of the 20th century, dependent on steamships and freight trains, today's mobile populations are technologically mobile as well. With a smart phone, it's possible to hide from an armed gang and research an exit plan at the same time.

"We are witnessing a paradigm change," the U.N.'s High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, said in an unusually blunt assessment of his agency's figures. He's a 66-year-old Portuguese man, a career politician who has seen a lot in his 10 years as the commissioner in charge of the wandering classes-but never a crisis like the current one.

In the same mid-summer statement, Guterres warned of "an unchecked slide into an era in which the scale of global forced displacement as well as the response required is now clearly dwarfing anything seen before." His assessment, in a word: "Terrifying."

The numbers certainly support the rhetoric.

Sixty million people pushed from their homes? The U.N. calls that "the highest level ever recorded," an increase of 8 million people over 2013, a leap of more than 30 million people in the past decade. It's the statistical equivalent of someone clearing out California by machete, then barrel-bombing Texas into a ghost state-only, in this case, half of the displaced are children.

To understand the full burden of the global migrant crisis, it is necessary to understand that the U.N. figures are an intentional and inevitable undercount. The data is from 2014, for one thing, which means it doesn't yet include the 1.5 million Syrians, Afghans, Iraqis and others who poured into Europe this year, according to European border police. The data is also limited to people "forced" to leave their homes by threat of physical harm-the legal definition of a "refugee" (if they cross a border) or an "internally displaced person" (if they do not).

That excludes the untold millions who leave life-sapping poverty in one place for a sliver of economic hope in another. They pay the same human smugglers, ride in the same boats, and ply the same trails as those "forced" to go. But they aren't counted in the figures, because they are not an officially protected class.

The U.N. data also exclude the large-scale displacement of people as a result of natural disasters, especially those linked to the heat and fury of the global climate crisis. They are recognized in the new Paris climate agreement, which calls for an effort "to avert, minimize and address displacement related to the adverse impacts of climate change."

All these people are a test of our conscience.

"You have to understand," the British-Somali poet Warsan Shire wrote, in a line meant to expose the flimsy distinction between migrant and refugee, "No one puts their children in a boat /Unless the water is safer than the land."

Jill Goldenziel, a fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, is calling for the creation of a new area of international law, one that humanely resettles both refugees and migrants. It's based on the idea that most people would never flee their homeland, at least not by anything we'd recognize as choice or free will.

Tattered canvas tents sheltered tens of thousands of Pashtun refugees in West Kabul, Afghanistan in 2009. During the American-led fight against al Qaeda, hundreds of thousands more fled into Pakistan.(Photo by Larry Towell/Magnum Photos)

America, for its part, is doing something unusual in response to the current migrant crisis: relatively little.

After World War II, the U.S. absorbed 650,000 displaced Europeans. After the war in Vietnam, it accepted 1.4 million Southeast Asians. After an overhaul to its immigration system in 1980, it welcomed another 3 million refugees from around the world, more than any other country.

But this time is different. America-land of immigrants, beacon for the war-torn and persecuted-has taken in just 1,500 Syrians since the start of the country's civil war. Germany, by contrast, has accepted more than a million asylum-seekers. The White House has promised to do more, but the country's welcome mat seems to have vanished, especially if you are Muslim or Latino.

After a radicalized Islamic couple killed 14 people in California on Dec. 2, the leading Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, called for a temporary but "total and complete shutdown" of America's borders to Muslims. Trump has also proposed monitoring mosques and registering American Muslims.

Early in his campaign, Trump accused Mexico of sending "rapists," and people who are "bringing drugs" and "crime" into the U.S. illegally. He has also pledged to deport the roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. and build a wall along the country's southern border.

"We have no choice," Trump has said.

Thousands of Roma, or Gypsies, face persecution in Europe. This woman is pictured in the doomed French shantytown of La Courneuve in 2013.(Photo by Jerome Sessini/Magnum Photos)

It's not just the U.S. turning a cold shoulder to migrants. Other than Germany, the European Union has responded to the migrant crisis with a stingy, voluntary, and still un-executed resettlement plan. Trump-like populists are now in power in Poland and Hungary (and, until recently, Australia). They have a seat at the table in Switzerland and Finland, and are rising in the numbers in France, the Netherlands and Sweden.

One young member of Sweden's Parliament recently had a crisply nativist response to the claim that immigration is good for a nation: "Bulls---," he said.

Two legislators in the Netherlands faced hate crime charges this year, one for advocating "fewer Moroccans," the other for comparing Muslim prayer in public to the country's experience with Nazi occupation.

In a recent op-ed, the prime minister of Hungary argued, "Everything which is now taking place before our eyes threatens to have explosive consequences for the whole of Europe." He feared that a modest resettlement plan in Europe would undermine the continent's Christian character.

"We shouldn't forget that the people who are coming here grew up in a different religion and represent a completely different culture," he continued. "Most are not Christian, but Muslim."

About the same time, Hungary erected a razor-wire border fence, and passed a law making it a crime to tamper with it.

Just possibly, the politicians don't know what they're doing. They don't know what it is to be a migrant. They've never been a refugee. And they know that the public will pay attention only occasionally, if a child washes up dead on a beach or a huge number of migrants die in some ghastly way, like, say, 71 suffocations in the back of the meat truck. Those spikes of national and international attention are temporary and fleeting.

So the crisis remains. Of the 60 million displaced people counted by the U.N., only 126,000 returned home in 2014, the lowest total in three decades. At this pace, the world will go back to its original order sometime around the year 2400.

In the meantime, Magnum Photos can help. It was founded as a photographer collective in 1947, and since then, its members have captured the great shakes and crashes of history. Conflict is a Magnum specialty and migration is above all a conflict. The U.N. had a pithy subtitle for its latest refugee report: "World at War."

For this series, some of the best photographers in the world will take a global look at migration, producing what amounts to a chapter in human history. The pairing of shooter and subject works in another way: photographers are themselves often migrants of a kind. They are ramblers and chance takers, tacking from here to there.

Moises Saman, 40, was born in Peru and raised in Spain and the United States. He'll shoot what has become the central path of the modern migrant crisis - the route from Syria through Turkey to a Greek island, and northward through Serbia, Hungary and Croatia. But Saman shoots in reverse, moving against the tide.

"I am interested in searching for the positive commonalities in human spirit," he says, "to expose those intimate moments among people that remind us of dignity and hope in the face of conflict."

In October 2005, a powerful earthquake shocked a remote region of South Asia, pushing hundreds of thousands of people into tent cities. This family is pictured in April 2006 in Bagh, Pakistan.(Photo by Paolo Pellegrin/Magnum Photos)

Mark Power, 56, is a British photographer and a professor of photography at the University of Brighton. He'll shoot the architecture of two refugee camps in Jordan, pop-up communities for Syrians displaced by that country's bloody civil war. He likes to shoot "free from specific events, where there are different expectations, where it is first and foremost about ideas."

Alex Majoli, 44, is an Italian photographer with frames from the conflicts in Yugoslavia, Kosovo and Albania. He'll shoot a different sort of migration, less about conflict and more about opportunity. The subject: 278 million Chinese laborers, the secret source of China's urban economy, returning to their rural homes for the Chinese New Year.

Larry Towell, 62, is a Canadian poet, folk musician and photographer. His business card says, "Human Being." He'll shoot Mexico's other border, the one with Guatemala, where thousands of people a year arrive fleeing the violence and poverty of Central America.

Among the many victims of the advance of the Islamic State in the Middle East: the Yazidis, a religious sect trapped in the mountains in northwest Iraq. These women awaited rescue in 2014.(Photo by Moises Saman/Magnum Photos)

"If there's one theme that connects all my work, I think it's that of land-lessness," he says, "how land makes people into who they are and what happens to them when they lose it and thus lose their identities."

Magnum will dispatch additional photographers in the months ahead, including within the United States, a nation colored and re-colored by immigration and an open-road ethos of perpetual motion. By mid-century, as a result of this churn, white people - once about 90% of the American public - will no longer be the primary ingredient in the melting pot, according to federal data.

But a change in color is superficial. For millions of refugees worldwide, the greater concern is a change in class, a shift from the rank of those who have a country to those who do not and may never again. That's the sad, disgraceful fact about many refugee camps: Two-thirds of the people inside them will never go home.

They languish in a place like Cooper's Camp in West Bengal, India, home to the oldest "temporary" village of refugees: 7,000 people who fled Pakistan amid the horrors of British India's partition. That was 1947.

Or they languish in a place like Daadaab, in Kenya, home to the largest "temporary" camp for refugees. Built for around 90,000 people, it now houses more than 350,000. The first tent popped in 1991. Now the U.N. says that 10,000 children have been born in the camp-to children who were themselves born in the camp.

So many migrants and refugees languish in any of thousands of "temporary" camps that the sum total is almost unthinkably huge. If these refugees and displaced people were a nation unto themselves, it would be more populous than Canada and South Korea, roughly on par with Italy and Great Britain.

It would also be poised for growth. Even if the world's conflicts suddenly simmered, the sun would still shine and that's a problem. Manmade global warming is expected to quadruple the number of environmental migrants in a matter of decades.

If you are interested in helping a refugee or a migrant, you can start here.

Migration doesn't need to be grim. Blaise Pascal, a 17th century French philosopher, once wrote that "All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone". True enough, but so do all of humanity's pleasures.

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Continental Drift - The global migrant crisis

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This project is in partnership with Magnum Photos About 70,000 years ago, a person - genetically identical to us in every way that matters - waded into the narrowest part of what is now the Red Sea between Eritrea and Yemen. He (or she, no one knows) made it safely to the other side.

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Chinese consumers who think elephant poaching is a problem

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In 2014, 70.6% of Chinese survey participants thought that elephant poaching is a problem, compared to just 46.6% in 2012. Poaching has reached epidemic levels in West, Central, and East Africa. An estimated 100,000 elephants were slaughtered in a three-year period, between 2010-2012.

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have been killed in the four-and-a-half-year Syrian civil war.

The constant violence has forced more than four million to flee the country, fueling a refugee crisis in the Middle East and Europe. The country is so dangerous that a definitive tally of deaths is not possible, but several groups are trying to document how many Syrians have died, and what killed them.

Each of these dots represents one person who was killed during the conflict.

"With each passing day there are fewer safe places in Syria," Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, chairman of the United Nations panel investigating human rights abuses in Syria, wrote in a recent report. "Everyday decisions - whether to visit a neighbor, to go out to buy bread - have become, potentially, decisions about life and death."

Thousands of civilians have been victims of mass shootings and gunfire between government forces and insurgents. In one case documented by the United Nations, more than 100 people, including at least 49 children, were killed in Homs on May 25, 2012. Most were shot at close range.

The U.N. reports that armed opposition groups have also executed children, but lack of access in areas controlled by the Islamic State has prevented systematic documentation. "In places like Raqqa and Deir Ezzor, it's almost impossible to verify the information," said Bassam al-Ahmad, spokesman for the Violation Documentation Center in Syria.

At least 27, 0 06 civilians

were killed in mortar, artillery and rocket attacks.

Both government and insurgent forces have used "weapons that are guaranteed to cause civilian damage," said Geoffrey Mock, a Middle East specialist at Amnesty International. Children account for about 20 percent of these deaths.

The Syrian government has repeatedly fired imprecise rockets and unguided bombs, according to the United Nations and other monitoring groups. Insurgent groups have used so-called "hell cannons" - improvised artillery devices fitted with explosive gas canisters that cause widespread damage.

"What we are seeing in Syria is war crime on both sides," Mr. Mock said.

Syrian warplanes and helicopters have blasted civilian targets like mosques, schools and shopping markets in insurgent-controlled areas with barrel bombs - large containers filled with explosives and projectiles - and other weapons. As the government lost control of the country, said Mr. Ahmad of the Violations Documentation Center, "they began using new tactics by dropping air bombs." More than a quarter of the dead are children.

The United Nations and others have documented rampant use of torture by both government and opposition forces, including crimes against children targeted for appearing to be pro-government. In March, thousands of photos surfaced showing detainees who were said to have died in Syrian prisons. The photos were smuggled out of Syria by a former Syrian military photographer. Secretary of State John Kerry said that the photos showed evidence of torture.

The Syrian government has been accused of using chlorine-filled barrel bombs. An attack in 2013 killed hundreds of people (some estimates were upward of 1,500) in Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus controlled by the opposition, when the area was struck by several rockets containing sarin, a nerve agent known to be part of the Syrian military's stockpile. There are also reports that the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, has used mustard gas in northern Syria.

The United Nations has accused the Syrian government of using attacks on hospitals as a "weapon of war." Physicians for Human Rights documented nearly 300 attacks on hospitals through July, most of them carried out by pro-Assad forces in opposition-controlled areas.

The death toll, documented by the Syrian American Medical Society through January 2015, does not capture the many people - estimates range from 200,000 to more than 600,000 - who have been under siege for more than a year and are at risk of starving to death or dying from other preventable causes. The majority of those besieged are trapped by the Syrian government in the Damascus area, according to Valerie Szybala, the primary author of a report by the Syrian American Medical Society and executive directive of the Syria Institute, a new think tank.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has estimated that 181 civilians have been killed in the coalition airstrike campaign against the Islamic State, as of mid-August. Other groups have given higher estimates, and all say that the United States and its allies understate the civilian toll. The United States Central Command says it has confirmed the deaths of only two civilians since the start of the campaign.

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More than 20 0 , 0 0 0 people The constant violence has forced more than four million to flee the country, fueling a refugee crisis in the Middle East and Europe. The country is so dangerous that a definitive tally of deaths is not possible, but several groups are trying to document how many Syrians have died, and what killed them.

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Dr. Amanda Sterk

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Venngage | Professional Infographic Maker | 10,000+ Templates

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Join over 5 Million professionals who consider Venngage the infographic maker of choice. Pick from 10,000+ professional templates made for businesses.

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Time.Graphics is the timeline maker wich provides you free with some limits and premium version without restrictions. Make a historical analysis in one click! Yup, it’s real! We present to your attention the amazing website!

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Andreas Igler Director of IT & Operations

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How to Choose the Right Chart for Your Data

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If you have data you want to visualize, make sure you use the right charts. While your data might work with multiple chart types, it's up to you to select the one that ensures your message is clear and accurate. Remember, data is only valuable if you know how to visualize it and give context.

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BI Blog | Data Visualization & Analytics Blog | datapine

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Modern Dashboard software is making it easier than ever to merge and visualize data. This doesn't mean a great dashboard happens without some strategic thinking though. The thinking starts with questions, such as: What story do you want to tell (analysis) and who do you want to tell it to (audience)?

Knowing who your audience is will help you to determine what data you need. Knowing what story you want to tell (analyzing the data) tells you which data visualization type to use. Let's assume you have the right data and the right data visualization software. Now you need to choose the right charts and graphs. Hopefully this post will help you create better data visualizations and dashboards that are easier to understand.

Roughly speaking, data visualization is drawing a picture with your data instead of leaving it in a spreadsheet or table. Technically, any way you choose to do this counts, but there are some charts that are way better at telling a specific story. At datapine, this is our forte. We know what it takes to make a good dashboard. This means a visually compelling and a coherent story. There are lots of things to consider when making your dashboard visually appealing but let's focus on the 10 most popular types of data visualization to visualize your data in the most meaningful way.

The 10 Most Common Used Data Visualization Types

1) Number Chart

When to use Number Charts

A real-time number chart is basically a ticker that will give you an immediate overview of a particular KPI. At a glance, you can see any total such as sales, percentage of evolution, number of visitors etc. This is probably the easiest data visualization type to build with the only consideration being the period you want to track. Do you want to show an entire history or simply the latest quarter? It is important to label the period clearly so your audience understands what story you are telling. Adding a trend indicator compares your number to the previous period (or to a fixed goal, depending on what you are tracking).

What to avoid

Number Charts are often the first thing people see and the quickest to read, so if there are too many, your narrative can get diluted. Using too many can also make your dashboard a little superficial. If you want more in-depth information, limit the amount of number charts and leave room for other types of data visualization that drill down a little deeper.

When you add a trend indicator, we suggest you compare numbers from the same period. For example, if you are tracking total sales for the current quarter, compare it to the same quarter last year (or last period - depending on your story). If you select a target manually (perhaps you have no accurate past data) be sure to set realistic goals. Again, remember to label the trend indicator clearly so your audience knows exactly what they are looking at.

2) Line Chart

When to use Line Charts

The purpose of a line charts is to show trends, accelerations (or decelerations) and volatility. They display relationships in how data changes over a period of time. In our example above, we are showing Sales by Payment Method for all of 2014. Right away you can see that credit card payments were the highest and that everything took a dip in September. The takeaways are quick to register, yet they have depth too.

What to avoid

Too many lines (variables) can make your chart complicated and hard to decipher. You may also find your audience constantly referencing the legend to remind them which one they are looking at. If you have too many variables, it's time to consider a second (or even third) chart to tell this story.

When it comes to layout, keep your numbers relevant! When you set up your axis scales keep it close to the highest data point. For example, if we had set the y axis above to track all the way to 200K (when our highest data point is just over 90K), our chart would have been squished and hard to read. The top half would have been wasted space and the data crammed. Let your data breathe a little!

One more thing

A great feature of line charts is that you can combine them with other types of data visualization, such as bar graphs. Using a double y axis, one for the bar graph and one for the line, show two elements of your story in one graph. The primary y axis below shows orders (bar graph) and the secondary y axis is sales totals (line). The metrics are different, and useful independently, but together they tell a compelling story.

3) Maps

When to Use Maps

Besides just being cool, maps are great at visualizing your geographically data by location. The data on a map is often displayed in a colored area map like above or a bubble map. Since maps are so effective at telling a story they are used by governments, media, NGOs, nonprofits, public health departments...the list goes on. Maps aren't just for displaying data they direct action. This has been seen, most recently, through the Zika outbreak. Mapping the spread of disease has helped health officials track the disease and effectively distribute resources where they are most needed.

Even if you aren't saving the world from Zika, maps can help! For example, they are great at comparing your organization's sales in different regions.

What to Avoid

Everyone loves maps. That doesn't mean you always need to display one. Obviously if location isn't a necessary part of your data story, you don't need a map. They take up a lot of room so only use them when necessary. Also don't just fill your maps with data points. Clickhole did a good job satirizing this common data visualization type by placing 700 red dots on a map. Filling your map with data points doesn't tell a data story. It just overwhelms the audience.

4) Bar Graphs

There are three types of bar graphs: Horizontal (left to right), Column (up and down) and Stacked (which can be either). Although all are in the same chart family, each serves a distinct purpose.

Horizontal Bar Graphs

When to use Horizontal Bar Graphs

Horizontal charts are perfect for comparative ranking, like a top-five list. They are also useful if your data labels are really long. Keep them in an order that makes sense though. Either list by value (like we did above) or, if that's not the strength, choose a logic for the labels that makes sense, like listing them alphabetically.

What to avoid

Since time is best expressed left to right, it's better to leave showing an evolution for the column chart. Also, like many charts, when you have too many values, a horizontal bar graph quickly becomes cluttered.

Column Graphs

When to use Column Graphs

Column bar graphs are the standard for showing chronological data, such as growth over specific periods, and for comparing data across categories. In our example, Amount of Sales per Channel and Country (last year), it is clear that we are comparing six regions and five channels. The color coding keeps the audience clued in to which region we are referencing and the proper spacing shows the channels (Good design is at the heart of it all!). At a glance, you can see that SEM is the highest earning channel and with a little effort, the Netherlands stands out as the region that likely has the highest sales.

Stacked Column Chart

When to use Stacked Charts

Stacked charts handle part-to-whole relationships. This is when you are comparing data to itself rather than seeing a total - often in the form of percentages. In the example above, the story isn't about the total number of customers aged 15-25, but that 22% of the customers were 15-25 in the first quarter of 2014 (and in Q4 26%). The numbers we are working with are relative only to our total.

When showing single part-to-whole relationships, pie charts are the simplest way. 22% of our customers are 15-25, leaving the other 78% to fit into the pie somehow. People get pie charts. They're easy. But what if we want to show the same information over different periods? This would be a multiple part-to-whole relationship and for this, we use a stacked bar graph. Again, we are telling the story of percentage of customers in a certain age range, per quarter. The total number of each isn't relevant here (although that information is used in the calculations.) With proper spacing, we see each quarter clearly and the color coding shows that overall, the 46-55 year olds are the most difficult customers to attract.

What to avoid

Aesthetically speaking, when you have too much data, columns become very thin and ugly. This also leaves little room to properly label your chart. Imagine we had ten different age ranges, per column. Some results, if not most, would be only slivers. To make your chart easy to understand use good colors, proper spacing and a balanced layout. This invites people to look at your chart and even enjoy it. A pretty chart is much nicer way to consume data than squinting at a table.

5) Pie Charts

When to Use Pie Charts

The much maligned pie chart has had a bad couple of years. In fact it has become pretty cliché to talk about how bad pie charts are. We understand the pie chart doesn't do a lot. But it does do some things quite well. In general, pie charts are useful for when demonstrating the proportional composition of a particular variable, over a static timeframe. Let's look at some more particular cases:

When the parts add up to 100%: The "part-to-whole relationship" is built right into it a pie chart in an obvious way. At a glance, any user knows a pie chart is splitting a population into parts and that the total of those parts equals 100%.
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When approximating is ok: The pie chart is particularly effective when eyeballing values is enough to get the conversation going. Also, it's easier to estimate the percentage value of a pie chart compared to, let's say, a bar chart. That's because pies have an invisible scale with 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% built in at four points of the circle. Our eyes can easily decipher these proportions, easily driving conversation about what variables do and don't take up most of the pie. Or course your audience doesn't have to guess the proportions. You can easily add data labels or build the sister of the pie chart, the donut chart, to display additional information.

When there aren't many proportions to the variable, or they are combined. Pie charts are great when answering questions like, what two largest suppliers control 65% of the market?

Your audience isn't always going to be data scientists. Accordingly, your data presentation should be tailored to your particular audience. Which brings us to another pie chart strength: people are familiar with pie charts. Any audience member will feel comfortable interpreting what the pie chart is presenting. As a bonus, circles generate more positive emotions: our brains like to look at circles over sharp corners. In the end, a pie chart simplifies the data story and encourages the audience.

What to Avoid

Data visualization guru Edward Tufte famously declared "pie charts are bad and that the only thing worse than one pie chart is lots of them." We have already talked about the pros of pie charts and why we don't adhere to this strict no pie chart philosophy. We should also state that there are plenty of instances where you should not use a pie chart. First off, pie charts portray a stagnate time frame. So of course trending data is off the table with pie charts. Make sure your audience understands the time frame portrayed, and try to document or label this applied filter somewhere.

Pie charts are also not the best data visualization type to make precise comparisons. This is especially true when there are multiple small pieces to the pie. If you need to see that one slice is 1% larger than another, it is better to go with a bar chart. Another thing about multiple pieces to your pie, you don't want too many. Pie charts are most effective when just displaying two portions. They lose presentation value after 6 segments. After six it is hard for eyes to decipher what the slices proportion. It also become difficult to label the pie chart and valuable dashboard/reporting real estate is often wasted in the process. Which brings us to the last issue: circles take up space. If you are using multiple pie charts in a dashboard it is probably best to more effectively combine the data in one chart. We recommend checking out the stacked bar chart for these cases! You can also have a look at the different pie charts that are commonly used.

6) Gauge Charts

When to Use Gauge Charts

Gauge charts are also known as dial charts or speedometer charts. These charts use needles and colors to show data similar to a reading on a dial/speedometer. These charts provide an easily digested visual. They are great for displaying a single value/measure within a quantitative context such as to the previous period or to a target value. In this vein, the gauge chart is often used in executive dashboard reports to show display progress against key business indicators. All you have to do is assign minimum and maximum values and define a color range and the gauge chart will display an immediate trend indication.

What to Avoid

Gauge charts are great for KPIs and single data points. After that they can get a bit messy. With only one data point you can't easily compare different variables. You also can't trend data using gauge charts. All of this makes taking actionable insight from a gauge chart difficult. Also, they take up a lot of space. If your dashboard has precious real estate it may not be most efficient to fill it with multiple gauge charts. You probably will get more bang for your buck using one chart to summarize multiple KPIs.

7) Scatter Plot

When to use Scatter Plots

Scatter plot is not only fun to say, it is what you need when are looking for the correlation in a large data set. The data sets need to be in pairs with a dependent variable and an independent variable. The dependent (the one the other relies on) becomes the y axis and the independent, the x. When the data is distributed on the plot, the results show the correlation to be positive, negative (each to varying degrees) or nonexistent. Adding a trend line will help show the correlation and how statistically significant it is.

What to avoid

Scatter plots only work when you have a lot of data points and a correlation. If you are only talking about a few pieces of information, a scatter plot will be empty and pointless. The value comes through only when there are enough data points to see clear results. If you only have a little data or if your scatter plot shows no correlation at all, this chart has no place on your dashboard!

8) Spider Chart

When to use Spider Charts

Spider charts, or radar charts, are comparative charts used when multivariate data is displayed with three or more quantitative variables (aspects). Basically, it's when you want to evaluate two or more "things" using more than three aspects - all of which are similarly quantifiable. It's a mouthful for sure, but simple when you put it into use. Spider charts are great for rankings, appraisals and reviews. For example, the three "things" we are comparing in our e-commerce example above are regions: Australia, Europe and North America. The aspects we are comparing against are products sold: Cameras, TV, Cell Phones, Games and Computers. Each variable is being compared by how many units were sold: between 0 and 500. Europe is clearly outselling in all areas and Australia is particularly weak in Cameras and Cell Phones. The concentration of strengths and weaknesses is evident at a glance.

What to avoid

This is not the easiest chart to pull off, but it really impresses when done correctly. Using this chart if you have more than five values in your dimension (five "things" to evaluate) makes it hard to read, which kind of makes it pointless. Whether you use solid lines or shaded areas, too many layers are difficult to interpret. Naturally, it is not a choice when you want to show time (the whole circular thing...).

9) Tables

When to Use Tables

We know, tables aren't technically a type of data visualization. But sometimes you really just need a table to portray your data in its raw format. With a table you can easily display a large number of precise measures and dimensions. You can easily look up or compare individual values while also displaying grand totals. This is all particularly beneficial when your audience needs to know the underlying data or get into the "weeds". They are also effective if you have a diverse audience, where each wants to look at their own piece of the table. Tables are also great at portraying a large number of text or string values.

Remember just because you are using a table doesn't mean it can't be visually pleasing. You can use various colors, border styles, font types, number formats, and icons to highlight and present your data effectively. Take a look at this video demonstrating advanced table features in datapine.

What to Avoid

There are many reasons to use a table. There are also many instances to use different data visualizaton types. It all comes down to our eyes and brain. Tables interact primarily with the verbal system: we read tables. This reading includes processing the displayed information in a sequential fashion. Users read down columns or across rows of numbers, comparing this number to that number. The keywords here are reading, processing, and time. Tables take longer to digest. Graphs, on the other hand, are perceived by our visual system. They give numbers shape and form and tell a data story. They can present an immense amount of data quickly and in an easy-to-consume fashion. If a data visualization is needed to identify patterns and relationships, a table is not the best choice. Also, while it is fun to get creative with colors, formatting, and icons, make sure your formatting and presentation choices are increasing perception. Tables are hard enough to read as is!

10) Area Charts

When to Use Area Charts

The area chart is closely related to the line chart. Both chart types depict a time-series relationship, show continuity across a dataset, and are good for seeing trends rather than individual values. That said, there are some key differences between the two. Because of these differences "when to use area charts" does not equal "when to use line charts".

Line charts connect discrete but continuous data points through straight line segments. This makes them effective for facilitating trend analyses. Area charts technically do the same except that the area below the plotted lines are filled with color. In this case an un-stacked area chart is the same thing as a line chart, just with more coloring. The problem you run into here is occlusion: when you start comparing multiple variables/categories in an un-stacked area chart the upper layers obscure the lower layers. You can play around with transparency but after three variables un-stacked area charts are hard to read.

This brings us to the most commonly used area chart: the stacked area chart. Like stacked bar charts, stacked area charts portray a part to whole relationship. The total vertical of a stacked area chart shows the whole, while the height of each different dataset shows the parts. For example, a stacked area chart can show the sales trends for each region and the total sales trend. There are two different stacked area chart types you can use to portray the part to whole relationship differently.

Traditional Stacked Area Chart: The raw values are stacked, showing how the whole changes over time.

Stacked Percentage Area Chart: Percentages are stacked to show how the relationship between the different parts changes over time. This is best used to show distribution of categories as parts of a whole, where the cumulative total is less important.

What to Avoid

As we hinted out earlier, for the most part you should stay away from un-stacked area charts. If you are just comparing 2-3 different variables that don't obscure each other then go ahead. But in general, they are often messy and don't follow data visualization best practices. When it comes to stacked area charts, don't use them when you don't need to portray a part to whole relationship. Use a line graph instead. Also if are trying to compare 7+ series you mind stacked area graphs hard to read. In this case you should once again turn to the line graph.

Your Turn

There is no substitute for good design. At datapine, we have made sure the design options of our dashboard software are easy to use yet sophisticated enough to handle all your data. With our advanced dashboard features such as global style options we enable you to make your dashboard as appealing as possible. Your part in an effective design is to choose the right data visualization types for coherent story. Rarely will your audience know how much strategic thought you put into your dashboard (as with anything else, design is often undervalued). But we understand and we're here to help.

Setting yourself up with good questions will help you start to tell your data story. Some simple questions to get you started with your data visualizations are:

How do you want to show your KPIs?

Is timeline a factor?

Are you comparing data or demonstrating a relationship?

Would you like to demonstrate a trend?

Knowing who your audience is will show you what data you need, but understanding how they will use the data will help decide which charts are best. Is your audience going to be actively using the data in your dashboard? Or are they simply viewing it to make informed decisions? Establishing this before you begin designing your charts will help you decide which KPIs you want to show. If folks will be actively using the data, perhaps as a team where each member may need to look at their specifics and drill down further, more complex charts and global dashboard filters are likely necessary. If your dashboard is to show results, number charts and spider charts (these can look pretty impressive...) might be your priority with a few more complex charts to support your story.

We've shown you ten of the most popular charts, but there are many more to choose from. With stunning visuals, our advanced data visualization software makes it easy for you to create and manipulate your data exactly how you want it and for whom you need it... So why not trying out datapine for free?

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How To Choose The Right Data Visualization Types

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Using different types of data visualization will tell different stories. This is why you need some strategic thinking beforehand, and learn how to choose the right chart for your data. Find here the most common data visualization types and when to use them - or not.

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Written by Amit Agarwal on Feb 22, 2016

Charts help you visualize numeric data in a graphical format but the problem is there are just too many types of charts to choose from. You have bar charts, bubble charts, pie charts, line histograms and so on.

If you are finding it hard to pick the right chart type for your type of data, refer to chart chooser diagram. Start from the center of the chart chooser diagram and take the route that best matches your data type. Is the data static or does it change over time? Does the chart show a comparison or relationship between data? You may sometimes have to draw more than one chart.

The poster, designed by Andrew Abela, is also available as a PDF.

Related: Create Graphs Online with Google Charts

You may also want to check out Chart Chooser - an online tools that lets you shortlist charts visually. Chart Chooser is not as detailed as the above chart suggestion flowchart but the advantage is that it lets you download different chart types in a format that is ready to use inside Excel or Microsoft PowerPoint.

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Choose the Right Chart Type for your Data

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Written by Amit Agarwal on Feb 22, 2016 Charts help you visualize numeric data in a graphical format but the problem is there are just too many types of charts to choose from. You have bar charts, bubble charts, pie charts, line histograms and so on.

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Open Canvas

Create, organize, and move freely on an open canvas. Create seamless presentations without the restrictions of linear slides.

Ready-made asset libraries

Choose from millions of images, stickers, GIFs, and icons from Unsplash and Giphy.

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Presentations and videos with engaging visuals for hybrid teams | Prezi Present

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Welcome to Prezi, the presentation software that uses motion, zoom, and spatial relationships to bring your ideas to life and make you a great presenter.

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Chart Maker - Generator for the Chart Server API

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Creating an infographic is an entirely new world for many people, whether you're a teacher, small business owner, or even a blogger. You know you want to share data in a visual and engaging way... but where do you even find the data?

Step #1 to creating a great infographic is finding data that is reliable and relevant. So here's our guide to the top five places we at Easel.ly use to find information!

Data.gov is the United State government's open source data "library." Because it's government-supported, the data is very reliable and vetted (which means you won't get any weird, fake numbers). Keep in mind that these are generally data reports that the U.S. government uses, so they may not always apply to your audience or specific subject. However, it's still a great place to start!

The World Health Organization (WHO) is a massive organization that collects data on different demographics, countries, and situations all over the world. From child mortality rate to sanitation in third world countries to rates of anxiety and depression, WHO is an amazing resource when it comes time to explore a specific demographic, area, or condition.

It's right in the name - the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) collects data on the workforce in the United States. Whether you want to know what a person can expect when entering a specific job field or what the pay range is in different areas, the BLS database has tons of great (and very reliable) information. This is especially useful when doing research on your audience or your industry!

This is the Big Kahuna that many people don't know about. Google Public Data is an open source database that you can search for a variety of topics, but keep in mind that it is still fairly limited to a handful of data sources. However, those sources are highly reliable and vetted against Google's standards for reliable information. If you're looking for a very specific subject or statistic, this is the place to go. You can also search specific databases individually in case you need particular data sets or methods.

You know those polls that are always trending in the news or on social media? Odds are they come from Pew Research Center. Keep in mind that polls are subjective, self-reported data, but they can be a huge resource for your next infographic. Use polls to create industry guides, create class reports, or event explain why your audience needs your product!
Bonus Data Sources
The best part about living in today's online world is that our access to data is always increasing. In fact, we have created and stored about 90% of the world's data in the past 4 years. Pretty crazy, right? That means that data is everywhere.

So we'll let you in on one pretty cool secret when it comes to finding data for infographics: use social media! Hashtags like #data or #dataviz or even #statistics will pull up a gold mine of information right in your Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn feed! If you like using LinkedIn, we highly recommend checking out the hashtag - it is The Economic Times' feed of random yet highly interesting data tidbits!

But keep in mind that, whenever you use data from sources that are not a well-known organization or database, you need to vet the material. Ask yourself:

Remember: You can't just pull numbers out of thin air and plug them into your infographic - keep the data you use to high standards. Your audience, students, or customers will know the difference!

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Our Top 5 Resources for Finding Reliable Data - Create Amazing Infographics Easel.ly!

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Creating an infographic is an entirely new world for many people, whether you're a teacher, small business owner, or even a blogger. You know you want to share data in a visual and engaging way... but where do you even find the data?

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122 Data Sources For Your Next Great Piece of Content

The reality of the content marketing world is that you need to create interesting and share worthy content if you plan on achieving even a modicum of success. To this end, data visualizations have become one of the most effective ways to create great content pieces.

At HighRank Websites, creating beautiful and thought provoking data visualizations are an important part of the marketing process for our clients. Here are a few pieces of content we've created lately that were dependent on the data behind the project.

NFL Crimes Interactive
http://www.highrankwebsites.com/nfl-crimes-interactive
Cost of Prisons in the US
http://davidbreston.com/prisonmap/Where do Crimes Happen in the U.S.
http://safer-america.com/where-do-crimes-happen-in-america/
A well done data visualizations can provide context, tell a story, support a point of view or simply offer an easier way to understand something that's more difficult to comprehend than by simply looking at a spreadsheet. Great data visualizations - and great content overall - start with great data. However, it's important to rely on accurate data from trusted sources - this is the Internet after all - and you can't always trust all the information that's out there. (Side note: If you plan on pitching your content to any journalist worth his or her salt, your content had better be based on rock solid data)

Finding quality, accurate, and relevant data is often half the battle. While there are large databases for almost any topic or idea you can think of online, combing through the wide expanse of the web to discover the right data-set for your specific story can be overwhelming. So, we did the leg work for you and put together a great list of over 100 data-sets that are open and free for the public.

Below are 122 places to find data for your next amazing piece of content organized into six major categories: Government Data, Data Search Sites, Social/Economic Data, Health/Science Data, Earth/Geography Data, and Miscellaneous Data.

Government Data

There is an near-unlimited source of data compiled by government - organizational, city, state, national, international. This data can be very generic and all-encompassing or can be as specific as DMV records. It can be a little daunting making the determination which data sets work for you and your client, but once you narrow it down you can feel relatively comfortable that the data is correct and reliable.

http://data.worldbank.org/ - Free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe

http://www.imf.org/external/data.htm - Predefined data reports by country, topic, or data source

http://www.bls.gov/data/ - U.S. Department of Labor databases, tables and calculators by specific subjects

http://www.usaid.gov/open - U.S. Agency for International Development data transparency and accountability - to serve as a model of open and collaborative government

http://www.state.gov/open/ - U.S. Department of State data transparency, participation, collaboration, innovation, improving the site, and the Department's Open Government Plan

http://data.un.org/ - United Nations data search

http://data.nasa.gov/ - NASA Open Government Initiative, and is intended to improve access to NASA data

http://www.justice.gov/data/ - U.S. Department of Justice high-value data inventory identifies a large set of raw data and other information we believe will be of interest to the public

http://www2.epa.gov/open/data-inventory-and-activities - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency public data-sets

http://www.fda.gov/aboutfda/transparency/opengovernment/default.htm - U.S. Food and Drug Administration provides easy access to valuable FDA public data

http://www.dot.gov/data - U.S. Department of Transportation published list of publicly available data sets

http://energy.gov/data/open-energy-data -U.S. Department of Energy

http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/landing.jhtml?src=pn - U.S. Department of Education Information and data on education-related data and research

http://www.faa.gov/data_research/ - Federal Aviation Administration data research to ensure that commercial and general aviation is the safest in the world

U.S. National

http://www.data.gov/ - The home of the U.S. Government's open data

http://usgovxml.com/ - US Government Web Services and XML Data Sources

State

https://data.wa.gov/ - Washington State data source

https://data.oregon.gov/ - Oregon data source

http://data.ca.gov/ - California data source

http://www.utah.gov/data/ - Utah data source

http://www.colorado.gov/data/ - Colorado data source

http://openbooks.az.gov/app/transparency/index.html - Arizona data source

http://www.sunshineportalnm.com/ - New Mexico data source

http://www.nd.gov/gis/ - North Dakota data source

http://open.sd.gov/ - South Dakota data source

http://www.nebraska.gov/data.html - Nebraska data source

http://www.kansasopengov.org/ - Kansas data source

http://www.ok.gov/about/data.html - Oklahoma data source

http://www.texas.gov/en/connect/pages/open-data.aspx - Texas data source

http://www.state.mn.us/opendata/ - Minnesota data source

http://data.iowa.gov/ - Iowa data source

https://data.mo.gov/ - Missouri data source

http://wwwprd.doa.louisiana.gov/LaTrac/portal.cfm - Louisiana data source

http://www.michigan.gov/openmichigan - Michigan data source

https://data.illinois.gov/ - Illinois data source

http://opendoor.ky.gov/Pages/default.aspx - Kentucky data source

http://ohio.gov/government/factsandhistory/ - Ohio data source

http://www.tn.gov/opengov/ - Tennessee data source

http://open.alabama.gov/ - Alabama data source

http://www.maine.gov/cgi-bin/data/index.pl - Maine data source

https://data.ny.gov/ - New York data source

http://www.ri.gov/data/ - Rhode Island data source

http://transparency.ct.gov/html/main.asp - Connecticut data source

http://www.delaware.gov/topics/data.shtml - Delaware data source

https://data.maryland.gov/ - Maryland data source

http://datapoint.apa.virginia.gov/ - Virginia data source

http://www.ncopenbook.gov/ - North Carolina data source

http://www.open.georgia.gov/ - Georgia data source

http://www.floridahasarighttoknow.com/ - Florida data source

https://data.hawaii.gov/ - Hawaii data source

International

http://data.gov.uk/ - United Kingdom data source

http://datos.gob.es/ - Spain data source

http://data.norge.no/ - Norway data source

http://openaid.se/ - Sweden data source

http://opengovdata.ru/ - Russia data source

http://data.gc.ca/eng - Canada data source

http://govinfo.nlc.gov.cn/ - China data source

http://data.gov.au/ - Australia data source

https://data.govt.nz/ - New Zealand data source

http://data.gov.in/ - India data source

http://www.dati.gov.it/ - Italy data source

https://www.govdata.de/ - Germany data source

http://www.statcentral.ie/ - Ireland data source

http://opendata.mx/ - Mexico data source

http://dados.gov.br/ - Brazil data source

http://www.dados.gov.pt/pt/catalogodados/catalogodados.aspx - Portugal data source

Data Search Sites

These are some of the go-to sites when you are searching different topics of interest. You can just type in your subject or look through their areas of interest. These sites cover data, statistics, and visualizations. The information covers just about everything you can imagine and is provided by governmental and private organizations.

http://www.researchpipeline.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Main_Page - summarizes software, journals, resources in data sets

http://knoema.com/ - Get data for your report, research or assignment in seconds

http://databib.org/ - searchable catalog / registry / directory / bibliography of research data repositories

http://www.reddit.com/r/datasets - Data sets for Data Mining, analytics and knowledge discovery

https://public.resource.org/ - Data making Government information more accessible

http://www.growmeme.com/ - Accessible library of many of the 'open' social network analysis datasets

http://crawdad.org/ - Community Resource for Archiving Wireless Data At Dartmouth, a wireless network data resource for the research community

http://www.zanran.com/q/ - Web search for data and statistics

http://aws.amazon.com/datasets - Public Data Sets on AWS provides a centralized repository of public data sets that can be seamlessly integrated into AWS butt-based applications

http://archive.ics.uci.edu/ml/ - 297 data sets as a service to the machine learning community

https://data.govloop.com/ - GovLoop is the premier online community connecting more than 60,000 government innovators from federal, state, and local government

http://www.archives.gov/research/alic/tools/online-databases.html - Data on American history and government, archival administration, information management, and government documents to NARA staff, archives and records management professionals, and the general public

http://enigma.io/ - Quickly search and analyze billions of public records published by governments, companies and organizations

Social/Economic Data

The data presented in this list is vast, covering anything from education, to population topics such as mortality rates, population statistics, and human longevity, to economic issues such as poverty and economic development. The information is viewed from different perspectives: globally, internationally, by country, and area. Data offered by these universities, non-profit organizations and governments is intended for the use and benefit of researchers, students, political analysts, journalists

http://www.mortality.org/ - The Human Mortality Database provides detailed mortality and population data to those interested in the history of human longevity

http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/CPES/ - Data regarding the investigation of cultural and ethnic influences on mental health

http://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx - Substantial data bases regarding worldwide economic development

http://econ.worldbank.org/datasets - Data-sets and analytical tolls concerning socio-economic factors

http://www.aidinfo.org/data - Financial aid Data

https://gettingpastgo.socrata.com/ - Data on public education

http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/ - Federal Reserve Economic data

https://timetric.com/ - Used to improve business values and manage business risk

https://data.medicare.gov/ - Volumes of Medicare data is accessible in this site which have been obtained from many sources including hospitals, nursing homes and doctors

Health/Science Data

This data set list covers a variety of health related areas from general health to disease, medical conditions and mental health. The data is presented in different formats including questionnaires, surveys, research, funding, and statistics. The information is collated from a national perspective to more of an individual level by national organizations, universities and blogs.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/nhanes_questionnaires.htm - Questionnaires, data-sets and other related documentation concerning national health and nutrition

http://blog.wolframalpha.com/2010/06/29/disease-and-patient-level-statistics-with-wolframalpha/ - Data from two national surveys and offers statistics concerning disease and disease related topics

http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/CPES/ - This data set is compiled from surveys and provides data related to mental disorders among the general population, with an emphasis on minorities

http://www.dartmouthatlas.org/ - Variations in how medical resources are distributed and used in the U.S.

http://www.who.int/research/en/ - The World Health Organization provides access to data and analyses for monitoring the global health situation

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Ftp/ - Databases complied by the National Center for Biotechnology Information

Earth/Geography Data

This category of data is very broad and covers more than the title suggests. It encompasses topics such as weather, climate change, topography, geology, geophysical and much more. The data covers areas of interest ranging from the atmosphere to our ocean, land, solar and even space. The data is presented via grids, graphs, tables and maps on many different levels including global, national and state. Many types of organizations are involved in collecting this type of data such as governments, private research organizations, foundations, public domain, and societies.

http://berkeleyearth.org/data - Various data regarding Earth surface temperature

https://climatedataguide.ucar.edu/ - Global surface temperature data sets

http://www.naturalearthdata.com/downloads/ - Data use in creating customized maps

http://data.geocomm.com/drg/index.html - Digital topographic map (raster) graphic data

http://planet.openstreetmap.org/ - Regularly updated maps of the planet

http://libremap.org/ - Aggregate and create digital maps and related GIS date and provide them for free

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/ngdc.html - Geophysical data from our Sun to Earth and Earth's sea floor and solid earth environment, including Earth observations from space

http://data.reegle.info/ - Comprehensive set of linked clean energy data

Miscellaneous Data

These sites attempt to provide help on how to use and manage data whether it is using data to build websites, using butt services to manage large sets of data, or even using data to compete with others for the best data prediction. Organizations such as private companies, universities, and data science communities provide this advice for businesses, researchers, web developers, and data science geeks.

http://kdd.ics.uci.edu/ - Enables researchers in knowledge discovery and data mining to scale existing and future data analysis algorithms to very large and complex data sets

https://www.qunb.com/ - Helps in the conversion of data into data visualization

http://www.infochimps.com/ - Makes organizing and storing large databases easier and more manageable by offering butt services

http://www.kaggle.com/ - Data prediction competitions

http://www.freebase.com/ - A community-curated database of well-known people, places, and things

https://delicious.com/ - Tools offered in this site you can bookmark, or keep track of, the information you are interested on the web

http://carl.cs.indiana.edu/data/ - Offers a list of tools for processing data

http://datahub.io/ - Home for your data and a way to get, use and store data

http://www.quandl.com/ - A way to find, use and share numerical data

http://www.kdnuggets.com/datasets/index.html - Resource for information related to data mining such as software, jobs and education

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Wikipedia:Database_download - Ability to download Wikipedia's databases

https://developer.yahoo.com/geo/geoplanet/data/ - Resource for geo-referencing data on earth's surfaces

https://data.sunlightlabs.com/ - Data and information regarding the running of our government accessible to the public

http://googleresearch.blogspot.com/2006/08/all-our-n-gram-are-belong-to-you.html - Using word n-gram models for a variety of R&D projects, such as statistical machine translation, speech recognition, spelling correction, entity detection, information extraction, and others

https://books.google.com/ngrams/ - This data tool allows you to graph phrases used in books

https://www.google.com/publicdata/directory - Data sets provided by Google

http://figshare.com/ - Allows users to upload any file format to be made visible in the browser so that data-sets can be disseminated in a way that the current scholarly publishing model does not allow

If you know of any good resources of data-sets and databases that you don't see above, please share them in the comments section so that I can add them to the list.

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122 Data Sources For Your Next Great Piece of Content

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The reality of the content marketing world is that you need to create interesting and share worthy content if you plan on achieving even a modicum of success. To this end, data visualizations have become one of the most effective ways to create great content pieces.

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"The term 'data journalist' is a bit of a jack-of-all-trade term," Marianne Bouchart told delegates at the news:rewired conference in London on Tuesday.

"Some call us computer-assisted reporters, journalist programmers, journo geeks... unicorns. It varies."

Bouchart is communications director and Data Journalism Award Manager at the Global Editors Network - and the founder of Hei-Da.org, a not-for-profit organisation set up earlier this year which specialises in open data-driven projects.

She is also the founder and editor of the Data Journalism Blog, and gave workshop attendees some expert advice on how to source and use data sets for storytelling.

Here is a list of sources recommended by her:

Dataportals.org - a comprehensive list of open data portals from around the world, a good starting point for locating a diverse range of data

FindTheData.com - similar to Dataportals.org, it contains a variety of data sets on various topics and industries

EU Data Portal - the EU Data Portal launched last week, and is still in beta. Sponsored by the European Commission, it can be used to browse official data sets

European Union Open Data Portal - much like the EU Data Portal, it offers comprehensive data sets on various subjects across Europe

Data.gov.uk - the UK government's data website, containing public data to help people understand how data works and how policy is made

Data.gov - the US counterpart to Data.gov.uk. There are many similar websites available to source data from other countries

Open Corporates - the largest open database of companies in the world. Its main goal is to have a URL for each established company and contains lots of specific business data

WikiLeaks - people presume that WikiLeaks is outdated, but Bouchart stressed that it is still an exceptional resource, with a regularly updated website

The World Bank - it has a data portal that offers free and open data about development issues around the world

The UN Data Portal - grants access to a comprehensive list of data sets, broken down by countries and themes

The UNHCR Data Portal - dedicated to data about the refugee crisis, it is a very visual resource that often provides raw data sets

The World Health Organisation Data - this resource offers a large data library with maps and reports, as well as country-specific statistics

Google Public Data Explorer - enter keywords and it will bring you results of data sets according to what you're looking for, broken down by the data sources

GetTheData.org - a forum where users can ask others where they can find specific data

Crowdsourcing using Google Forms - previously used successfully by organisations like the Guardian, when compiling data from their readers regarding how many Olympic tickets they had purchased

WhatDoTheyKnow.com - this resource is a good tool to use when you can't find the data you need. The website gathers all the Freedom of Information requests that have ever been submitted, and tells you whether they were successful or not

Quora - can be used to browse information, and much like GetTheData.org, ask others where to source specific data

You can also find datasets directly on Google by using the following search operators:

Filetype:CSV and filetype:XLS f or Excel spreadsheets

Filetype:shp for geodata

Filetype: MDB, filetype: SQL, filetype:DB for database extracts

You can even look for filetype:pdf - for example, site:Adidas-group.com filetype:pdf

inurl:downloads filetype:xls, which allows you to find not only documents made public by companies or organisations, but also information they have shared internally

For more advanced data journalism, try data scraping with Google. Bouchart's one line magic formula to use in Google Spreadsheets for scraping data from HTML tables is =importHTML("","table",N).

She also recommended Berkeley's tutorial on spreadsheets, as well as the Centre for Investigative Journalism's Data Journalism Handbook for further information on interrogating data using spreadsheets.

Finally, don't forgot to clean your data! Bouchart said that holes in data sets mean the information could be wrong and unreliable.

She advised using Open Refine, a free and open source tool that doesn't necessarily require an internet connection once the software has been downloaded on your computer.

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20 resources for finding and using data in stories

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"The term 'data journalist' is a bit of a jack-of-all-trade term," Marianne Bouchart told delegates at the news:rewired conference in London on Tuesday. "Some call us computer-assisted reporters, journalist programmers, journo geeks... unicorns. It varies."

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For anyone suffering from aviophobia, good news: 2017 was the safest year on record for commercial flying.

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Infographics can make dry and boring information exciting.

Whether you're a marketer looking to make your content more engaging, or a manager looking to communicate more effectively with your team, infographics can be a handy visual tool.

But if you're new to designing infographics, you might not be sure how to visualize your information effectively. That's where this guide can help you.

How do you pick the best infographic style for your information?

Short answer: it depends on the goal of your infographic and type of information you're visualizing.
We have categorized the infographics in the Venngage templates library into nine different types of infographics.
9 of the most popular types of infographics are:

This guide will explain what the 9 types of infographics are, and what the best infographic to use is depending on your information.

Confused about what an infographic is and why you'd want to use one? Our guide to What is an Infographic? is the best place to start.

Now, let's dive into each type of infographic in more detail.

1. Statistical infographic templates

If you want to , present data from multiple sources, or backup an argument with relevant data, then a visualize survey results statistical infographic is the best infographic to do that.

A statistical infographic puts the focus on your data. The layout and visuals will help you tell the story behind your data.

Related: How to Best Communicate Raw Numbers in Infographics

For example, this infographic uses an icon to illustrate each statistic:

And this statistical infographic template uses a combination of bold fonts and colorful icons to draw attention to each statistic:

Another example of a statistical infographic that visualizes data is from this local SEO study report:

Related: Infographics: Your Local SEO Strategy for Backlinks [Case Study]

Meanwhile, this statistical infographic template takes a more varied approach. The design combines pie charts, icons, and a timeline:

If you have a few key statistics that you want to emphasize, you can also opt for a more unconventional design.

A bubble or cloud layout will can help each statistic stand out while also creating a hierarchy of information. Simply put your most important statistic in the largest bubble, then decrease the bubbles in size:
Learn more about some other types of statistical infographics: Best practices for creating a statistical infographic: Want more statistical infographic templates and design tips? Read our guide to creating statistical infographics.
2. Informational infographic templates

An informational infographic template is the best infographic for clearly communicating a new or specialized concept, or to give an overview of a topic.

Typically, an informational infographic is divided into sections with descriptive headers. Numbering each section will help your infographic design flow. Plus, we've found that people tend to like infographics with numbers in the title .

This informational infographic template is one of our most popular by far. It keeps the information brief with five points. Descriptive headers and illustrative icons help communicate each point clearly:

But you don't have to follow a chronological order. If you have a collection of tips or facts that have no order, then you could opt for a circular layout:

Use design tricks like switching up color and direction to keep people engaged with your infographic. For example, this informational infographic template alternates between three different background colors for each section:

Adding decorative borders around each section can also add a bit of flair to an otherwise simple design. For example, this infographic template strikes a balance between decorative and functional:
Learn more about how to summarize content, such as a blog post or report, and present it visually as an infographic.
Best practices for designing informational infographics:

3. Timeline infographic templates

the best type of infographic for visualizing the history of something, highlighting important dates, or giving an overview of events (for example, a Timeline infographics are project timeline).

For example, this simple timeline template emphasizes each year using a larger font. Each point in time is illustrated using a colorful icon:

While icons of the same style represent different events in this timeline infographic:

A visual trick to show time progression is to use a color gradient.

Take a look at how the progression of color in this timeline template helps create the impression of movement from past to present. The darker color on the left draws the eye to the beginning of the timeline:

Alternating between different colors for each point in time can also help draw the reader's eyes down along the timeline:

Timeline infographic design best practices:

Looking for more timeline templates, examples and design tips? Read our guide to creating timeline infographics and our post with 20 timeline template examples.

4. Process infographic templates

While a timeline infographic will highlight points in time, a process infographic is the best infographic for providing a summary or overview of the steps in a process.

Process infographics will allow you to simplify and clarify each step. Most process infographics follow a straightforward top-to-bottom or left-to-right flow. Numbering the steps will make your process easy to follow.

For example, this process infographic template uses a different color for the headers of each step. Notice how the colors of numbered icons on the right side of the infographic correspond with the headers.

For example, this process infographic template uses arrows to visualize the order of each step. This simple process summary is perfect for including in a presentation or video:

If you have many steps to fit into one process infographic, try using a "snake" layout. Basically, your steps will wind back and forth across the page in an S-shape. This will help you save space:

Best practices for creating a process infographic:

Follow the below setups to create a process infographic:

Number each step in your process to make it easy to follow.

Use an S-shape layout to fit many steps into one page.

Use visual cues like arrows to indicate where the eye should look next.

Write your headers in a different font or colors from the other text to help them stand out.

Want more process infographic templates and process visualization tips? Check out our guide to creating process infographics and our recommended step infographics, circle infographics and roadmap infographics you can customize immediately.

5. Geographic infographic templates

Do you want to visualize location-based data, demographic data or large quantities of data? In those cases, a geographic infographic is your best bet.

Geographic infographics use map charts as the focus visual. Different types of map charts work better for different types of data.

For example, this geographic infographic template uses a heat map to show regions hierarchically:

But if you want to simply point out locations on a map, use icons and brief labels:

Geographic infographic templates can also be used to compare data by region or demographic. You can do this by placing several maps side by side.

For example, this geographic infographic template uses maps of different countries to help compare a breakdown of the population of America by race:

Geographic infographic design best practices:
Want more geographic infographic templates, examples and design tips? We've got a map infographic design guide.

Use a heat map to visualize density by area, and to create a hierarchy of data.

Use a map series to compare location-based information or to shows changes over time.

Clearly label points on a map to make your data easier to understand at a glance.

6. Comparison infographic templates

A lot of people have trouble picking between multiple options.

Typically, comparison infographics are split down the middle vertically or horizontally, with one option on each side.

For example, this comparison infographic template offers an unbiased comparison of two phones. The phone specs are listed down the middle of the infographic, making it easy to compare both options:

This comparison infographic template uses contrasting colors to emphasize the difference between both options:
For over 20 comparison infographic templates and design tips, read our comparison infographic design guide.
If you want to compare more than two things, then simply dividing your infographic in half won't work. Instead, you can divide your infographic into multiple columns.

Best practices for creating a comparison infographic template:

7. Hierarchical infographic templates

A hierarchical infographic can organize information from greatest to least.

One famous example of this is the pyramid visualizing Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Humanity's most important needs are at the base of the pyramid, ascending to humanity's least important needs in the smallest segment at the top.

You can use a similar pyramid chart for a wide variety of hierarchical information. For example, this hierarchical infographic template depicts the most effective learning methods, with the highest retention method at the base:

To visualize a chain of command, or to show how something is broken down into parts, use an organization flow chart. For example, this hierarchical infographic template uses two organizational flow charts to show the chain of command at a company:

Click the template above to enter our online organizational chart maker tool. Edit the template to your liking-no design experience needed.

8. List infographic templates

If you want to share a collection of tips, or a list of resources, or a list of examples, then why not create...a list infographic!

List infographic templates are generally straightforward-the goal is to make them more eye-catching than a basic list. Visuals like icons can replace bullet points, and creative fonts and colors can make each item stand out.

Numbering the points in your list will help your information flow. This list infographic template uses different colored circle icons to help each number pop from the page:

Just because your content is a list, doesn't mean you have to follow the basic top-to-bottom layout.

For example, this list infographic follows no particular order. Instead, the points circle around the main topic, with different background colors to make each point stand out:

Look for creative ways to lay out the points in your list. Play with your audience's expectations and include eye-catching design elements to give their eyes a break.

For example, this list infographic template uses an S-shape layout to keep your eyes moving back and forth across the page. The brightly colored icons contrast with the blue background, making the design exciting:

Best practices for creating a list infographic:

9. Infographic resume templates

Infographic resumes won't be able to entirely replace a traditional resume in most cases. But they're a great visual document to bring to an interview, to publish on your portfolio site, or to include in an email application.

For example, this infographic resume template has a muted, minimal color scheme. Simple icons and a sidebar add some subtle embellishments to the design:
Looking for a more in-depth guide to creating an infographic resume? Click here. Or check out our roundup of 20+ infographic resume templates.
Design a resume header that reflects your skills and experience. For example, this infographic resume template uses a simple mind map with illustrative icons to visualize the job candidate's experience:

Related: 20+ Best Resume Fonts For Free in 2021

Give your infographic resume a decorative border that reflects your personality or personal brand. For example, the leafy border gives this infographic resume template a calming, friendly feel. Perfect for a customer service advisor:

Infographic resume design best practices:

BONUS: Infographic charts

Once you've picked a layout for your infographic, the next step will be to figure out how to visualize your data using charts. Depending on your data and the goal of your infographic, you may want to change a pre-existing chart in a template to something better fitting.

At Venngage, we use the ICCOR method to pick the best charts . The types of charts you choose should depend on the goal of your chart.

ICCOR stands for:

Inform: convey a single important message or data point that doesn't require much context to understand

Compare: show similarities or differences among values or parts of a whole

Show Change: visualize trends over time or space

Organize: show groups, patterns, rank or order

Reveal Relationships: show correlations among variables or values

This infographic summarizes how to pick the right chart depending on your goals:
Want to learn how they did it? Check out the Lease Ref Case Study. Related: 10+ Case Study Infographic Templates That Convert
What are the best infographics for marketers?
For more marketing infographic examples, check out our guide here.
Marketers use infographics to repurpose their text content into engaging visuals.

For example, marketers can use information infographics to summarize key points from a blog post:

In fact, that's exactly how Lease Ref used Venngage to increase their blog traffic and online visibility. They used infographics to improve audience engagement, and creative blog headers to drive clicks to their posts-without design experience!

(By the way, you can read this blog post about common symbols and meaning here .)
Learn more about how to use infographics in the classroom in this guide.
Marketing consultants can also use infographics to explain processes to their clients. For example, this marketing infographic walks readers through how to increase landing page conversions:

What are the best infographics for teachers?

Infographics are the perfect tool for visualizing information in the classroom. They can make boring and technical information fun!

Teachers can create informational infographic posters to hang up around their classrooms:

Many teachers also have their students create infographics. Data visualization is a useful skill that can be applied to many types of careers.

What are the best infographics for Human Resources?

Human Resources specialists need to communicate a lot of dry information to teams...and have them pay attention. HR infographics can make information more digestible and attention-grabbing.
For more real estate infographic examples, read our guide here.
For example, HR teams can use infographics to communicate processes to management:
Ready to start designing an infographic? This short video will show you how to make an infographic in five steps, or just start now with our infographic maker:
HR team members can also create an infographic company FAQ sheet to share on their site & company social media profiles:

What are the best infographics for real estate agents?

Real estate agents know that a big part of their job is communicating processes to clients. A process infographic can help alleviate some of the stress and mystery around the property-buying process.

Statistical infographics are also perfect for sharing real estate trends on your social media channels, to grow thought leadership:

Infographics can be a powerful storytelling tool for nonprofits. A statistics infographic can make numbers more concrete.

An infographic can also make complex problems seem more approachable and solvable. Organizations can share their campaigns in a visual, easy-to-understand format. Marketing collateral like infographics can be instrumental increasing exposure and attracting donors. They also make compelling visuals for your nonprofit website.

With these nine essential types of infographics, you will be equipped to visualize most types of information.

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What Are the 9 Types of Infographics? (+Infographic Templates) - Venngage

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This guide to infographics will explain what the 9 basic types of infographics are, and what the best infographic to use is depending on your information.

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