Real education happens when you blend information with entertainment. It’s one thing to give someone a dusty stack of esoteric books to read for homework, it’s something else entirely to present the info in an engaging, intuitive, and accessible way. Welcome to the wonderful world of information graphics, aka infographics!

The r/Infographics subreddit is an old online community that has an enduring love for infographics. Today, we’re featuring some of the best ones the community has shared. Scroll down to check ‘em out! They won’t just amuse you, you’ll end up learning lots, too.

Bored Panda got in touch with Steven Wooding, who is part of the Omni Calculator team, the creator of the Weird Units Converter, and a member of the Institute of Physics in the UK, with a few questions about presenting data in such a way so as to connect to the audience better. Read on for his insights.

#1 If New York City Were 100 People (Nytimes)

Image credits: surfinThruLyfe

#2 If Only We Could Get One For Avocados

Image credits: R3333PO2T

#3 Geography Terms

Image credits: MrJones-

Steven, the creator of the Weird Units Converter and a member of the Omni Calculator project, shared a few of his thoughts with Bored Panda on presenting data in a way that engages others better. We were interested to know how scientists can tell what data to focus on when showing others their findings if they feel like everything might potentially be worth others’ attention.

“I would focus on findings that have the greatest impact on the most people in the potential audience,” he said.

“If a finding is less important and only interests a niche group of people, it can be left out with little impact on the presentation,” Steven told us.

#4 American Insulin Prices Are Off The Charts

Image credits: Big_Maintenance_1789

#5 Minimalist Infographic. Poisonous vs. Venomous

Image credits: reddit.com

#6 The Evolution Of Letters

Image credits: Lustikheimer

We were also curious in learning about why the way in which data is presented has such a different impact on the audience. Steven, from the Omni Calculator team, explained why visuals are so powerful when sharing information.

“We are visual beings and much prefer a picture to a lot of text,” he said, adding that text is a relatively recent way to communicate.

“It is easier to make general conclusions from a graph or diagram without getting bogged down by the noise of too much detail,” Steven said.

“Part of impacting an audience is being memorable, and images are much easier to remember than bullet point lists. Adding a bit of entertainment also helps to be memorable and generally stops people from tuning out from what you are saying.”

#7 Decline Of Faith Amongst Young American Adults

Image credits: reddit.com

#8 8 Things You Should Never, Ever Flush Down Your Toilet

Image credits: giuliomagnifico

#9 We Could Fund Us…

Image credits: sillychillly

The r/Infographics online community has a long and storied history. Founded all the way back in July 2009, the subreddit will be celebrating its 14th birthday this summer!

Over the nearly decade and a half, the community has continued to remain relevant thanks in large part due to the interesting topic it focuses on, as well as its active community. At the time of writing, there were 221k members on r/Infographics.

The sub’s moderators have even put together a handy-dandy infographic about what is and isn’t an infographic (talk about meta!). You can find it right over here. It should help you navigate the world of visual information a bit better.

In short, infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data, or knowledge. “These graphics present complex information quickly and clearly, such as in signs, maps, journalism, technical writing, and education. Do not post: brochures, flyers, posters, graphic images with swaths of text laid over them, three-page long images that simply add costs,” the mod team asks its members to focus on infographics and infographics alone.

#10 109 Billion People Have Lived And Died

Image credits: lllinayat

#11 Lifespan Of Animals

Image credits: drbatookhanxx

#12 How Much People Eat

Image credits: tarandfeathers

If you post things other than infographics, they’ll probably end up getting removed by the mods. For instance, if your infographic is just a picture of text, it’s gonna go. The mod team running the entire show stress that the visuals have to add something to the image.

If you transcribe all the text into a text post and get the exact same content, there’s no real point in posting it on the sub. In short, the visuals have to add some sort of info! What makes infographics, well, infographics is the importance of the visual aspects of the graphic: they’re not just for show, they are integral to the entire experience.

Obviously, the subreddit is all about education and entertainment. There’s no room for self-promotion or actively promoting this or that company. Blatant promos get removed for the sake of fairness. r/Infographics isn’t a place for ads (well, aside from the ones that Reddit dumps on you in your feed, but that’s a whole other question entirely).

#13 Sandworm Size Chart

Image credits: AncientInsults

#14 The Bruise Spectrum

Image credits: Dhorlin

#15 Leonardo Dicaprio’s Dating History

Image credits: everywhere_anyhow

Now, infographics and guides aren’t necessarily one and the same, but there’s still a bit of overlap between them. Redditors are huge fans of visuals and graphics as a whole, no matter the specific category. Not long ago, Bored Panda interviewed the founder of the massively popular r/coolguides subreddit, a community of nearly 3.2 million members. The founder, u/dadschool shared how he changed his approach to having people post infographics on the sub dedicated to guides.

#16 I Updated Our Famous Password Table For 2022

Image credits: hivesystems

#17 How Many People Does It Take To Make A Blockbuster Film?

Image credits: earthlymonarch

#18 Highest Ocean Plastic Waste Polluters

Image credits: giuliomagnifico

The founder of r/coolguides explained to Bored Panda during an earlier interview that he had quite a tough approach toward infographics when he founded the subreddit. Nowadays, he’s far more lax and tolerant when it comes to infographics and lets the community decide what direction it wants the group to go. So there’s a lot more love for infographics than just on r/Infographics!

#19 Head Coverings Worn By Muslim Women

Image credits: heavenlydigestion

#20 The Size And Location Of The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Image credits: NoComplaint1281

#21 147 Words To Use Instead Of Very

Image credits: Mamrem

The secret to any good visual representation of info, whether it’s an infographic, guide, brochure, poster, or the unholy unity of all of the above, is clarity. You want to find the golden balance between giving your audience all the information that they need without overwhelming them or losing their attention.

#22 Mythical Beasts Of Wales [oc]

Image credits: NeilParkinsonMakes

#23 What Happened To Green Cars?

Image credits: 100LittleButterflies

#24 Predominant Ancestry Of Population

Image credits: HyggeHoney

Your infographics have to be as brief as possible without losing important data, and that means using the visuals to reflect a part of that info in an intuitive, accessible manner. However, what seems clear to you might be confusing to the regular Joe or Jill on the street.

#25 A Logarithmic Map Of The Entire Observable Universe

Image credits: giuliomagnifico

#26 80% Of Deaths Of Children Under Age Five Are Preventable

Image credits: thisisbillgates

#27 The Best-Selling Music Artists Of All-Time

Image credits: Dremarious

So before you go order a thousand printed copies of your infographic, show it to some people: your friends, your colleagues, your family parrot even. Get some honest feedback about what works and what doesn’t. Do some editing and proofreading. Don’t be afraid to go back to the drawing table! Though try to avoid the massive trap that is perfectionism, too. Aim for creating a great infographic, not a ‘perfect’ one.

#28 Travel Etiquette Around The World

Image credits: James_Korbyn

#29 Wikipedia’s Illustration For Gerrymandering

Image credits: loodog

#30 Differences In When Europeans Eat Dinner

Image credits: redeggplant01

Which of these infographics did you find the most interesting and intriguing, dear Pandas? Which ones stood out to you the most from a purely visual perspective? What kinds of infographics would you love to see in the future? Share your thoughts in the comments.

#31 Everything That’s Owned By Amazon

Image credits: Raz0rRamon

#32 History Of Pandemics

Image credits: dartmaster666

#33 Ikigai: The Japanese Concept Of Finding Purpose In Life

Image credits: inuetc

#34 The Wealthiest People Of History & What They Would Make In Today’s Dollars

Image credits: reddit.com

#35 A Presidential Venn Diagram

Image credits: LoboDaTerra

#36 Timeline: The Domestication Of Animals

Image credits: giuliomagnifico

#37 The Oldest Logos That Are Still In Existence Today (Based On Distinct Core Elements Still Being Used)

Image credits: jaxsondeville

#38 Orgasm Percentages

Image credits: Odd-Mycologist-4886

#39 The Most Banned & Challenged Books Of The Last 8 Years

Image credits: LuckyLaceyKS

#40 The Countries That Use The Most Toilet Paper

Image credits: elviejozuloqi

Source: boredpanda.com