Visual Storytelling via the InfoGraphic

I got the SlideShare religion because the platform simplifies the blending of words and visuals in storytelling.

But there are a number of ways to bring visuals to the fore, such as the infographic.

I was particularly impressed with the savvy displayed from a company called Infegy in creating an infographic on the vuvuzela, those pesky horns providing the “lovely background music” for World Cup matches.

Adam Coomes, Infegy’s president, came up with the idea after watching the World Cup and seeing how the humble horn had garnered such attention in the news, blogs and tweets.

“That’s when I realized that it would be a good idea to get some official numbers about what people actually think about the vuvuzela,” explained Coomes. “Someone with no prior knowledge could spend five minutes reading the infographic and have a general idea of what a vivuzela is and its impact within the social media realm.”

No question, Infegy gets it right on multiple fronts:

• Storytelling brings together history, numbers and anecdotes
• Pursued a topic with a public profile that has spiked.
• Professional-grade design thanks to Ben Stock Design.
• Delivers levity; i.e., averages 127 decibels, that’s seven times more intense than a chainsaw (not to mention the difficulty of getting a chainsaw through security).

Plus, the company recognized that building an infographic solely around numbers from monitoring social media would come across as too self-serving and lack the verve of a multi-faceted edition.

The reward came in the form of pick-up by various online media properties, including Mashable.

One final point –

You might have noticed the infographic highlights that the data came from socialradar (product), not Infegy (company). It’s hard enough for a startup venture to build one brand, much less two, but we’ll save this story for another time.