Animated Infographics: The Future Of Visual Content

There was a time when infographics were very much the ‘in thing’ when it came to content marketing. The trouble is, we all jumped on the bandwagon all at once, resulting in a much more frosty reception from blog owners who found themselves inundated with offers of infographics.

Designers were forced to think of new and interesting ways to engage readers whilst still being educational in order to make their infographics stand out from “the masses”. This led to the evolution of the infographic and the creation of animated infographics.

As the name suggests an animated infographic is a standard infographic with moving features. This clever new style of image is thought to have been popularised by Jacob O’Neal, creator of the ‘Cheetah‘ animated infographic. So, the question is, what are the benefits to this new visual concept? And what can it bring to the world of content marketing?

We as beings have always been very visual with our learning, and find things that excite our eyes more appealing than words alone. After all, 90% of what our brain processes is visual. Images tell us everything in one glance, but can only do so much when it comes to sustaining our interest.

Animated infographics provide the same information as any other infographic, but when the element of kinetics comes into play we can’t help but be more engaged. It’s human nature.

One major plus side to this new creative outlet is that it could make all subject matters more universal. For instance, if you are promoting an infographic to the masses about the mechanics of a toaster you might not get much of a response. However, if you introduce motion into the mix you have something novel and even your humble toaster graphic will capture people’s attention.  Dull topics can be given a new lease of life. The infographic seen here is a prime example of this.

In terms of technicalities it gets another big tick as unlike its video counterpart it is much easier to load on any personal computer due to the dramatically smaller file size (around 70 times smaller than your average video), and there is no playing piggy in the middle with sites like YouTube or Vimeo as you can share the file directly via your own site. Time wise it can take a few extra days to produce an animated infographic, but has a lot more value than your standard design by far.

Animated infographics are a relatively new concept and we think that they are set to become a staple in content marketing. More and more designs have been emerging and it won’t be long until animated infographics are the norm. For now all we can do it sit back and enjoy the designs to come throughout 2014.