We here at FtM Central like infographics. A blend of design, information, and (these days) digital media—what’s not to love about them? In fact, they are so quintessentially the distillation of information into small, easily digested bites, that we’d love to run one by you on a regular basis, analyzing what does and doesn’t work for each one. There’s an interesting hitch to the idea of running a regular column, though…
Unlike a lolcat picture, or a flashmob video, infographics are almost universally created for a purpose other than pure entertainment. Their creators are often in the employ of a company who wants the graphic to go viral, in order to better market the brand or service in question.
This difference begs the questions: if we run infographics without editorial comment, are we tacitly promoting the services or brands they represent? Does that perceived endorsement damage our journalistic integrity? If we run infographics with comment, would it be unethical to accept submissions from infographic artists, and then expose their tricks and tools in an analysis? How might a brand respond to a negative review? What would be considered a ‘fair use,’ and what would be infringing the copyright of an infographic?
These are all tough questions, and ones we are working on answering. We would love to hear what you think about these questions and these infographics. Please comment.
Like most people, I think infographics are great and I’d love to see more on Flip the Media. I don’t quite understand what kind of feedback you’re looking for here, but I’d like to get the ball rolling by saying that I think we agree that Flip the Media should offer digital takeaways. So why not include some editorial content from a student that draws out that digital takeaway, provides his/her opinion and opens the conversation up to others. I don’t see any issues with supporting or constructively criticizing companies, brands or even authors/illustrators so long as we can learn from it. That’s what it’s all about, right?
I love infographics so I’m really excited FTM has identified this topic for a regular column!
I’ve seen infographics created by many organizations, not just brands and for-profit companies. So I would suggest featuring infographics from several different sources and rotating them weekly. Perhaps one week feature an infographic from a non-profit org, the next week from a big brand, the following week from a graphic designer and so on.
You could also consider applying the same critique model to each post and analyze the following about each infographic: what’s working in this image, what’s not working, and what knowledge does the creator want the audience leave with? I think if you apply a standard model of analysis to each post and commit to featuring a variety of infographic sources, the FTM readership will appreciate your objectivity.
In terms of fair use, just make sure to cite and link back to the original source.