Memo

Date:

October 19, 2014

To:

Karen Thompson

From:

Nick Kirby

Subject:

Data Visualization - Infographics

Enclosed is the infographic you requested. This infographic is intended for non-technical audiences. The
data is presented visually and will be easy for audiences to comprehend. Included is the description of
intended audiences, data sets used, the story the infographic tells, design choices, Gestalt theory, and
limitations I encountered whilst creating the visualization of data.
The subject of this infographic is the lack of clean water availability in the world, as well as its immediate
effects on the global population. This document displays the quantity of water available and current
access. How water becomes contaminated as well as who is affected by it are likewise discussed.
Audience
This is an important topic to communicate to a non-specialized audience, as it directly affects the
readers health and promotes awareness of the global freshwater situation. The information displayed is
easily accessible but often overlooked by the general population, specifically in industrialized nations. As
such, it is likely most relevant to a reader in a first world country.
Data Set
All of the data came from the websites of a variety of non-profit organizations such as the World Health
Organization, Clean Water for the World, UNICEF, and the UN. Data on where water is located came
from both water.org and waterinfo.org. Nonprofit websites seemed like the best choice for data sets, as
there is no inherent motive other than to inform. It was also easy to fact check by cross-referencing
multiple non-profit websites.
Story
It was important for me to begin with just how little of the Earths water is available as clean freshwater
and where exactly it is located. This is to help the reader immediately realize that resources at hand are
very limited. Understanding how little water is available aids in putting the rest of the statistics to scale.
Displaying access by percent of population also allows the reader to see how much drinking water
(assuming they are living in an industrialized nation) they have compared to the rest of the world. I then
wanted to quantify availability and relate it to the effects of contaminated water.
Design Choices
Color
I wanted to create a sort of cool, water-esque theme as the availability was presented. This was
done with a largely three color scheme consisting of white font, a charcoal background, and
slightly differing shades of blue in the same value range. The white both on and around darker
colors made it pop out at the reader. As the infographic progressed to show the reader the
negative effects of lack of clean water, heading colors changed from blue to red. This helped to

indicate a sort of negativity and danger in the data. The use of warm colors in the data clearly
communicated contamination and illness.
Typography
The font used throughout the entire infographic was Archivo Narrow. I preferred a sort of
minimalist font, but still something that would come off the page. The titles were bolded, and
various sizes were used depending on whether it was a heading, statistic, or subtitle.
Layout
I chose to have the information flow from top to bottom, and from cause to effect. As the info
progressed, the data presented became more and more specific. The backgrounds of the
headings changed colors as the data progressed from cause to effect. In addition, it seemed
suitable to add a sort of pipeline with the headings. This helped to guide the reader through the
information and fit the overall water theme. This pipeline also helped to frame the data and
keep the reader centered on it.
Gestalt Design
Similarity/Anomaly
Most of the data regarding the effects of contaminated drinking water used similarity to
communicate easily distinguishable quantities to the reader. Identical images were placed next
to one another, with variance in color to communicate the statistic being presented.
Figure and Ground
Data regarding the availability of water included using figure and ground to show the reader the
scope (although not to scale), of freshwater versus saltwater quantities on Earth. The darker
background on the saltwater image guided the reader to the smaller freshwater image, which
then opened up to a pie graph further explaining the locations of freshwater.
Continuation
Continuation was used in the pipeline designed headings. Readers eyes naturally follow the
pipeline, which in turn guides them through the information
Closure
Closure was effectively used in all the images, as they were minimalistic, and kept attention
focused on them, rather than any sort of foreground or background. Each image was in its
entirety, a piece of data being presented.
Proximity and Alignment
The data was presented in a top to bottom, vertical format. All data was either centered in a one
column format, or placed on the right or left hand side of the image in a two column format.
Almost all images are framed by text, which helps to unify each section of the infographic.
Visual Hierarchy
Very much in the same regard as the color scheme, visual hierarchy was used to help
information stand out. Outlying stats were either made much brighter or darker than their

surroundings, guiding the reader to them. They were also placed toward the center of the data,
as to not be otherwise missed.
Tools Used
I decided to use a blank template in Piktochart to create this infographic. I am not too familiar with using
PowerPoint or Photoshop for infographic purposes. I utilized the variety of icons provided to create all
my images. Piktochart let me easily create shapes and copy them multiple times. It was also much easier
to move text boxes and shapes around compared to a program like Microsoft PowerPoint or Word (at
least in my experience). It was also easy to adjust the entire canvas size by using sliders on the bottom
and side of the page.
Limits
Overall I am not very experienced at this kind of graphic design. I wanted to use some higher quality
images, but Piktochart was pretty limited in its icon choices, and even more limited in images that could
change color. Because of this, I couldnt change my water bottle image colors, or I would have. Instead I
had to settle for changing transparency to convey the data. I also wanted to create a better depth of
field and shading on the pipeline headings to make them look more like actual pipes. I really didnt know
how to do this and still be able to change the colors. Piktochart also has a very finicky snap function that
seems make your elements jump all over the place trying to align themselves with every other element
youve inserted. As a result I had to turn the snap function off, which made things a bit more difficult to
align. I think if I had more skills in creating infographics in Photoshop I could have vastly improved this
image.
Sources
WHO.int
Cleanwaterfortheworld.org
Water.org
Waterinfo.org
Worldwater.org
UNICEF.org
UN.org