Knowledge Mushohwe
An infographic has the ability to show things under the surface, such as mining procedures, human anatomy and building designs. It helps the reader to conceptualise how something is constructed or how it functions, in addition to explaining dynamic processes step by step through a combination of visuals and text. The Herald sports section is probably the most reliable and authentic source of information in Zimbabwe’s print media.

On many newspaper selling points, the Herald often has both the front and back displayed, and the appearance of one or two sport billboards every day in public places is a testament to the power and influence of Zimpapers’ flagship sports news.

It was perhaps fitting that in 2005, the Herald’s sports section became a pioneer in the presentation of information graphics, visual compositions explaining, complementing or contextualising the traditional textual presentation in newspapers.

Since then, and especially because competition within the sector has become stiffer, Zimbabwean newspapers across the board are finding information graphics to be both relevant and convenient.

And with the new Zimpapers printing press guaranteeing a full-colour product and more compact page layouts and designs, information graphics are set to transform Zimbabwe’s media platform.

The information graphic (or infographic) is a visual medium used by scientists, technicians, teachers and journalists for explaining news as well as inventions, theories, games, accidents or structures of buildings, machines and living beings.

Infographics may be used to illustrate and clarify difficult issues so that the readers can more easily conceptualise and understand complex structural aspects, stages of a process, as well as effects and causes of an action.

Their primary objective therefore is not to make pages more beautiful or to simply provide a visual option — they are central in making readers understand both meaning and context and may be used to add or accentuate emotional content.

Information graphics are often used to explain in technical contexts, particularly in the natural sciences and in the domain of medicine.
In medical contexts for example, information graphics often illustrate location and function of inner organs, causes and effects of injuries, medical treatment etc.

In Zimbabwean newspapers, an information graphic is formed as a unit, consisting of textual and pictorial components that are attached to or embedded in a text article with the same or related contents.

An information graphic usually consists of three parts — text of various complexity (key words, phrases, sentences, text, paragraphs), pictures on various levels of detail (abstract or naturalistic), graphical means such as arrows, movement lines, zoom boxes, highlighting devices.

Inforgraphics are considered an artform because form and style are part of compositions created to give an illusion of texture, depth and togetherness.

An infographic has the ability to show things under the surface, such as mining procedures, human anatomy and building designs.
It helps the reader to conceptualise how something is constructed or how it functions, in addition to explaining dynamic processes step by step through a combination of visuals and text.

An inforgraphic also creates a coupling between parts of the whole while depicting several perspectives at once.

Nigel Holmes — one of the world’s leading infographic experts and manager of Time Magazine says information graphics “makes numbers, processes and facts understandable”

They are presented to make information as widely accessible and as easily understood as possible.

Aesthetic appeal is certainly important, but is widely viewed as a by-product of meaningfulness.

Research in the United States of America shows when graphic design really took off during the 1980s newspaper graphics were seen to be ‘single-dimensioned’ work.

Much like news reporting, information graphics presented data in objective fashion.

The research defined graphics as “map reality for readers”, an ability to present an authoritative map of the day’s events.

A 1984 study in America, examined front pages of newspaper across the continent and found that they were more graphically pleasing than ever before.

America is big, so is the newspaper industry. Competition is fierce.

Editors’ concerns about competitive appearance of their papers resulted in a good looking front page, with readers attending more to photos than stories and higher readership for stories accompanied by a photograph.

What meaning or understanding does the reader gain from information graphics?

“Chartoons”, the combination of graph and carton elements pioneered by USA Today, are used to display quantitative information.

Chartoons are found to be effective in attracting reader attention and making quantitative information easier to understand than plain graphs.

Researchers in America reported that reader retention of information improves when statistical data is displayed in a table or graph.

Readers’ recall of news facts can be improved by providing specific information in a “HOW” graphic instead of through story text alone.

“HOW” graphics also make a newspaper more attractive and give relevance to the growing importance of visual presentation of news.

A 1990 experiment concluded that most readers viewed a large graphic before reading the story but read the story first if the graphic was small.

This finding suggests that readers expect charts, photographs and other visual communication tools to fulfil informational needs.

Contemporary media is using information graphics to attract attention, help pull a reader into a story provide emotional content and contextualise meaning.

There are, however, some limitations to information graphics.

Distorted graphics may mislead readers. Editors need to be certain a design helps readers interpret the information presented.

In many Zimbabwean newspapers today, it is not uncommon to come across spelling or grammatical mistakes.

Either the designers are doing too much research and planning that, in an industry regulated by deadlines, they are left with little time to check the finer details, or they are designers with good visual manipulation skills but a poor grasp of the language they use as a medium of communication.

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