AEEE 3011 Public Engagement Strategies for Agricultural Research
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Other Resourcs
- Adobe Creative Cloud: LSUAdobe Creative Cloud (or "Adobe CC") is a suite of products, services, and tools that together allow for many utilities across all kinds of projects, from creative to administrative.
- Unsplash.comFree-for-all-uses high quality photos. A great site.
- PixabayOn Pixabay, you can obtain quality images free of copyrights. This is the best place to begin your photo search. It also includes vectors and other types of graphics.
- Wikimedia CommonsAnother very good source for photos, especially for scientific images and natural scenes.
- The Metropolitan Museum Digital ArchivesHigh-quality photos of artwork and artifacts at the Met.
- New York Public LibraryThe New York Public Library Digital Collections Explore 1,059,493 items digitized from The New York Public Library's collections.
- Louisiana Digital LibraryThe Louisiana Digital Library (LDL) is an online library of more than 400,000 digital items from Louisiana archives, libraries, museums, and other repositories, making unique historical treasures accessible to students, researchers, and the general public in Louisiana and across the globe.
- ccMixter Music Discovery"You already have permission..." is ccMixter's motto. A musicians' community, it's the best source for your background music.
- National JukeboxThe Library of Congress presents the National Jukebox, which makes historical sound recordings available to the public free of charge. The Jukebox includes recordings from the extraordinary collections of the Library of Congress National Audio-Visual Conservation Center and other contributing libraries and archives.
- freesound.orgThe Freesound Project is a collaborative database of Creative Commons licensed sounds. Freesound focuses only on sound, not songs.
- Noun Project"An icon for everything." These icons are usually public domain or available with a Creative Commons license. In vector format (no background).
- flaticonA large library of attractive vector (no background) icons. Requires you to create a free account.
- Font AwesomeProvides codes and SVG downloads for 40+ free icons.
- CoverrAdvertised as free videos for website home pages, you should be able to use Coverr’s MP4 downloads anywhere.
- IgniteMotionIgnite Motion exclusively offers clips for use in background videos. You’ll find abstract shapes moving, explosions, fire, gears, volcanoes, etc
- MazwaiThis site has a good selection of impressive video clips. You can specify the start and stop time of the clip you want prior to downloading. How cool is that? There is no search function so you will need to scroll through a grid of video clips to find what you want.
- Realm GraphicsOver 340 textures for fills and page backgrounds, over 380 bullets and over 130 buttons plus over 510 icons and 350 lines.
Communicating Science through Images
- Better Scientific PostersHow to create a better research poster in less time (including templates)
- The Ultimate Infographic Design Guide: 13 Tricks For Better Designs (Updated for 2019)Designing better info-graphics
Infographics
Things to consider when creating an infographic from Simki Dutta at Venngage.
There are several types of infographics. The layout you choose will depend on the goal of your infographic. Here are some of the most popular types of infographics and their uses:
- Informational infographic: to explain a concept or give an overview
- List infographic: to share a list of tips, best practices, or resources
- Statistical infographic: to present data or survey results
- Comparison infographic: to compare and contrast multiple options
- Geographic infographic: to present location-based data
- Timeline infographic: to give an overview of events or highlight important dates
- Process infographic: to chalk out a process
1. Start with determining your visualization goal.
What do you want to tell people about your topic? Who is your audience?
- Inform (icon charts, donut charts, etc.)
- Compare (bar chart, bubble chart, etc.)
- Highlight change (line chart, area chart, etc.)
- Organize (numbered lists, tables, etc.)
- Show correlations (scatter plots, etc.)
2. Gather your data.
Know your sources. The quality of the data is more important than quantity. Why is this important? Who cares?
3. Once you’ve picked the correct chart or graph, adhere to the design best practices.
- Start the chart axes at zero
- Remove distractions and non-data link
- Label your lines and bars
- Don’t manipulate or cherry-pick data
- Don't go text crazy. Infographics should contain three main things: the Title of the infographic, a brief introduction on the topic or addressing the pain point, and a break of the main content into sections.
4. Sketchy First!
Draw it all out. Having a rough draft on paper helps create your infographic digitally.
5. Design It!
Don't be afraid to start with a design site or a template.
Use color as a function, and be careful not to make it too busy or difficult to understand.
- Avoid using the same color to represent different data points.
- Avoid too many clashing colors.
- Try to use color logically. Darker colors traditionally represent larger numbers.
- Pick a color scheme and avoid using more than two to three primary colors.
- Don't be afraid to use shades and tints of color to denote different aspects of a topic.
- Ensure your background images don't clash with the text or other elements.
Avoid using too many fonts
- Stick to two or three and try to pair them together. Having two different fonts may cause more confusion than necessary.
Strive to create a visual hierarchy.
- A good infographic can help us determine where to look first. If your graph doesn't have a main focal point, the graph can be confusing or even misleading.
- An example of an infographic lacking in the visual hierarchy.
- An example of a good infographic with visual hierarchy.
Resources for Creating Infographics
- CanvaCanva is a graphic-design tool website that uses a drag-and-drop format for designing presentations, posters, social media graphics, and more. It provides access to millions of stock photographs, vectors, illustrations, and fonts (although not all are free; some are only available in the Pro version). You can even upload your own.
- Easel.lyThis free tool allows you to select and drop backgrounds, objects, and text onto a canvas to create your customized infographic. After you register with the site (so you can save your work), you can start from scratch with a blank canvas or edit an existing theme.
- Infogr.amA free, web-based tool with some really nice themes and a great interface for creating simple infographics. This option also allows you to create charts using real data.
- PadletVisual collaboration for creative work and education
- PiktochartTransform complex ideas into captivating visuals that inform and engage your audience.
- TimetoastTimetoast lets you create your own timelines. Great for when a visual works best for your topic.
- VenngageVenngage provides multiple infographic templates, and the good news is that the templates are designed for different types of infographics, from statistical, comparison, geographic, resume, timeline, and process templates.
- VismeVisme offers not only infographic templates but also stylized blocks and premade blocks to simplify the design work.
Examples of Infographics
- Daily InfographicWe scour the internet for data visualizations with the best content and design every day. We make facts and figures snack-worthy. See our infographics in minutes and come back for hours.
- Last Updated: Feb 4, 2025 2:26 PM
- URL: https://guides.lib.lsu.edu/AEEE3011
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