Glad you asked!
Last week, a long-time client working on another large grant emailed me requesting if I could send them a list of names of all the clients MNA has worked with in the K-16 teacher preparation programs areas: Evaluation, Technical assistance, Policy work, Workshops/Training, and others.
Gave the request some thought. Debated if I should send them a quickly done table/matrix or maybe a few pages with a list of all clients (both past, current, and some overlapping across the years). But, that would perhaps read like a very long grocery list. (Boring! but essential, right?) So, how about making a page infoposter instead?
After all, they asked for a list of clients and not an executive summary of an evaluation report to show all the numbers. That would have been an infographic and not an infoposter.
So, I got to work quickly – CANVA to my rescue – and sent them this infoposter that lists MNA’s history of working with various K-16 systems – school districts, universities, not-for-profit, and foundations, in the areas of teacher preparation and effectiveness initiatives.
These include grants from the U.S. Department of Education (ref. programs: TQP, TIF, Title II-D, Math and Science Partnership), National Science Foundation (Noyce Scholarships, RCN, and RET), Bill and Melinda Gates and Joyce Foundations.
What’s the difference between an Infographic and an Infoposter, you ask.
An Infoposter
- Much like an infographic does have numbers but the numbers/data do not drive the story or serve as its core.
- It uses icon type elements for visual appeal.
- It looks more like a wall poster.
- It’s more text-y.
- Focuses more on the topic and not so much on the numbers (in my case, it’s a list of clients we have worked with in the teacher preparation area across a timeline).
An infographic
1. Is designed to engage the audience more deeply with symbols, visual elements, labels, visuals, numbers, facts, and trends.
2. Is designed to be more objective by prioritizing storytelling with data (both qualitative and quantitative).
3. Numbers tend to be the driving force that are collated to communicate in an interesting and easy-to-read (and retain) format.
4. Helps to give deeper insights into understanding a complex idea/thought or even a report: makes knowledge transfer a bit easier.
In my case, given the time that I had (under an hour), the purpose, and the context, an infoposter made better sense and served the purpose.
In essence, your decision to make/use either of them will really depend on the TYPE OF DATA you’d like to present, THE CONTEXT, YOUR AUDIENCE, (and your time and effort).
