Picture This: The European Parliament
All About EU Infographic Series
Seeing isn’t always believing, but at CES, we think that it can definitely be a step toward understanding. In the spring of 2020, we asked one of our EURO majors to begin work on a series of infographics to help viewers better understand the complexities of the EU. Throughout the semester, this student has been mentored by one of our program assistants, and attended skill-building workshops with Lorin Bruckner, Data Visualization Services Librarian at UNC. Below, you’ll find the second in our series of 8 infographics, along with a brief statement from our student on the creative process.
While there are many different considerations to be accounted for when creating infographics, one of the most important is visual hierarchies.
A visual hierarchy is essentially an order of different elements in a work that gives the composition a legible structure. For example, this infographic uses different weights of font to direct the eye: “All About EU” is bolded, whereas “The European Parliament” is thin. By intentionally setting weights, a creator can give the viewer visual cues that lead them to the right information at the right time.
Hierarchies can also be established in the structuring of spaces in a work. For example, “Elections,” “Approval,” “Legislation,” and “Budgeting” all take up the same amount of space on the infographic, letting the viewer know that they are of equal importance. Likewise, the alternation of colors (cream to white) and reversal of orientations (align left to align right) helps to give a sense of flow to the reader, and also alerts the reader when they are switching to a different topic.
However, a hierarchy doesn’t always have to mean things are perfectly balanced. Sometimes, an imbalance can be extremely useful. For example, the “All About EU” title and the blue background distract from the left-to-right, up-to-down flow of the content. This disruption helps draw the eye first to the title, which flows from down-to-up, and leads viewers to the beginning of the content.
Similarly, disruptions can also be used to highlight a call to action. In this infographic, the call is “Learn more at jmc.unc.edu.” By placing the call in a box that doesn’t take up the same space as the content sections, and by using a new background color with a bold font, the message pops more than some of the other elements.
In short, visual hierarchies can be extremely useful in establishing the flow of information. However, sometimes it’s helpful to break the visual rules you set for the piece, so that different elements receive extra attention.
Thanks for reading, and remember to check back in as we develop more infographics! If you have any comments, ideas, or topics you’d like to see, let us know in the comments!
Interested in reading more about the work CES students do? Check out the Students tab on our blog!
Curious to see our other infographics? Head over to the Infographics tab on our blog!
This post was produced by EURO major Brett Harris.
This post’s production was supported by a 2018–2021 Jean Monnet Center of Excellence grant from the European Union.
The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
