Infographic creation as an essential skill for highly visual Gen Alpha

Generation Alpha (Gen A) is born into a world surrounded by sophisticated, visually intense digital environments. It is more critical than ever before that they need emerging visual literacy (VL) competencies to communicate and interact effectively with this world that is becoming more visual and digitalized at a faster pace than ever before. With the development of visualization tools, different types of infographics, such as AR integrated infographics and interactive learning dashboards containing data-intensive sophisticated graphics, are entering our learning field. This is actually a great benefit for Gen A, as they have access to various types of visualization tools. Yet, in order to make effective use of these graphics, there needs to be a transformation in the visual literacy skills they need to have along with the transformation in graphic types.

We, the Y generation, who strive to survive in visual, multidimensional, dynamic, interactive, fast, and data driven environments, also bear the responsibility to prepare Gen A for this new world. While visualization is an effective tool for meaning-making, structuring knowledge, and disseminating information, we are still seeking effective learning processes to equip Gen A with emerging VL skills, which will enable them to cope with and add value to this visually intense new world order.

Learners are surrounded by formal or informal learning environments, rich in graphics such as videos, complex infographics, interactive interfaces, virtual reality environments, educational games, and learning dashboards. Avgerinou (2009) calls this journey we take in the age of visual culture as ‘bain d’images’ (image bath). Although learners can quickly adapt to these new media easily during this journey, they need to go through planned and intentional learning processes in order to develop VL competencies in structuring and sharing information with these media effectively (Brumberger, 2011; Kędra, 2018). With the motivation we get from this need, in this special issue of the Journal of Visual Literacy, we have aimed to bring together research that focuses on infographic creation as a high-level skill that is essential for Gen A.

VL is defined as an extended group of skills to understand (read) and use (write) images, but also to think and learn in terms of images (Avgerinou, 2003). It is emphasized that visual reading must be developed first in order to write visually (ACRL, 2022). We must admit that it has become an important requirement for learners to be able to initially perceive complex visualizations and even to be able to effectively share their knowledge by visualizing, individually or collaboratively. We must be able to foresee that being able to write with visuals beyond reading will make a difference for learners, and we must enrich the respective learning processes accordingly. In this special issue, infographic creation is examined for the development of visual writing skills beyond visual reading.

Infographics and visual literacy

Infographics enable the conveying of complex information by emphasizing the important points and the relationships between these points within the form of a holistic graphic comprised of complementary text and visuals (Nuhoğlu-Kibar & Pettersson, 2021). In addition to presenting information holistically with related visuals and texts, infographics can mediate flowing, eye-catching and digestible interaction and communication processes. Infographics are determined to be the most memorable type of visualization because they present images and texts in a flow that creates a story (Borkin et al., 2013). Gathering linguistic (text) and non-linguistic (images) systems, infographics have been called a sweet spot (Krauss, 2012). The flow of visual and textual elements that form a story (Lu et al., 2020) can be identified as the most essential feature that differentiates complex infographics from others (Albers, 2015).

Actually, infographics are beyond the static and multiblock examples we are used to; depending on the changeability of information and the type of interaction, they can be created as static/dynamic/interactive, at different levels of reality, and multidimensional (Lankow et al., 2012). Emerging infographic types include animated infographics that use movement to support the iconic narration, video-graphics that incorporate real image recording with graphics, dashboards that display numerical data, and AR-VR environments that combine virtual and real graphics on a three-dimensional plane. These infographic examples, which are modern, multimodal, and multidimensional forms of communication and interaction, are elements of the digital world in which Gen A lives.

By combining visual elements with various visual encodings, each graphic has a unique visual grammar (Richards & Engelhardt, 2022). We can say that as an infographic becomes more complex and sophisticated, the related visual structure that needs to be analysed also becomes more complex. In other words, as the graphic type becomes complex and unusual, the visual literacy skills required by the learner also transform depending on the change in the graphic (Bodén & Stenliden, 2019). Making sense of the graphics developed with this advanced technology is possible with improved visual language knowledge and grammatical skills. For Gen A, every complex infographic encountered is a visual reading problem that needs to be solved.

Infographic creation as a way of transforming intellectual perspectives beside developing VL skills

In order to develop infographics that aim to visualize complex information, learners need to analyse the content by internalizing the subject they are working on. Content generation is an important stage of the infographic development process and enables learners to deepen their understanding of the subject in question, which is why it is recommended to be used as a learning strategy essentially for visually enhanced subject areas (Nuhoğlu-Kibar & Akkoyunlu, 2014, 2018). Since infographics are created by combining different visual components with various visual encodings, the creation process directs learners to practices related to VL skills. Winstanley and Thompson (2024, in this issue) handled infographic design as an effective mediator in their studies, in which they aimed to transform learners’ awareness of environmental issues beyond enabling learners to dive deeper into the content. This study reminds us of the two functions of visualizing information for advocacy: presentation and representation (Tactical Technology Collective, 2013). In a sense, learners objectively explain a point about environmental advocacy and reinforce it subjectively with a visual metaphor. We can say that in this way, learners encounter a process in which they can improve themselves in terms of both VL skills and intellectual perspective.

Content generation and textual structure for effective story flow in infographic creation

The most important process in creating infographics, and perhaps the most difficult for learners, is the presentation of visual information through a story flow by intertwining it with texts. The structure of the generated content in the form of a big picture, both visually and textually, determines how effective an infographic is (Nuhoğlu-Kibar & Akkoyunlu, 2017). In their study, Jaleniauskienė and Kasperiuniene (2024, in this issue) determined that, especially in the infographic creation process, learners had difficulty and needed scaffolding in presenting the textual components in a concise and logical flow in the form of a story. Since infographics, in which visuals are at the forefront, aim to convey complex information, we can say that textual components have a more critical complementary effect. In cases where the collaborative design process is involved, as in this study, it may be meaningful to structure the group dynamics in a way that strengthens verbal sharing to strengthen the textual structuring (Nuhoğlu-Kibar et al., 2019).

Objective and detailed visually intense qualitative analyses to examine infographic creation processes

In order to provide effective learning environments and processes to the learners, design processes must be monitored objectively and in detail. For this purpose, more objective evaluation and analysis processes are recommended, such as eye tracking (Brumberger, 2021). Effective learning processes can be designed by determining learner needs and analysing the creation process rather than the outputs gathered at the end of the process. Kuba and Jeong (2024, in this issue) examined individual infographic creation by focusing on the difference between graphic design experts and non-design experts’ creation processes. Examining groups with different proficiency levels is one way to determine the needed learning outcomes for a targeted skill. The most important feature that distinguishes this research from others is the means of analysis of the data regarding the design process obtained through think aloud and screen recordings. Researchers analysed the creation process data with temporal event sequences and state transition diagrams, which led to results through visuals. Thanks to this visual-intensive qualitative analysis, transitions between actions in the visual design process can be followed, and the iterations between stages can be examined.

Collaborative infographic creation as collaborative visualization for Co-knowledge building

The process of creating infographics can be an effective way of collaborative visualization, as it enables collaborative meaning creation, information structuring, and visualization of the created meaning with a big picture to be conveyed to others (Nuhoğlu-Kibar et al., 2019). It is one of the visualization techniques that draws attention in the context of CoVis because it captures the shared meaning within the group and makes that meaning visible, enabling other people to examine the meaning that the group has created. Collaborative infographic creation process differs from individual creation processes and learning outcomes. In their study comparing individual and collaborative infographic development processes, Özer-Şanal and Torun (2024, in this issue) determined that collaborative infographic development yields different benefits such as peer scaffolding, sharing knowledge, and accessing interesting ideas, unlike the individual process. They found that the group that developed collaborative infographics went through a more iterative and brainstorming-intensive process than those who developed them individually. Considering the benefits in question, it can be said that the collaborative infographic development process can be the subject of further research in terms of increasing the effectiveness of learning processes.

Needed infographics creation skills for effective communication during vital situations beyond learning

An infographic can be described as an umbrella concept that can bring together different types of visualization. Tables for classifications, numerical and map visualizations, and iconic narratives can be brought together in infographics to explain a topic in the big picture. This feature of infographics enables them to be used in many different subject areas. Marcelle, Arslan, Balogun and Dash et al. (2024, in this issue) discovered in their bibliographic study that studies with the keyword infographic have increased visibly over the years. They found that the concepts with which infographics are worked together have changed over the years, along with the developments in digital tools. According to the analysis results, it is seen that infographic studies have been integrated with augmented reality technology, and data visualization studies have intensified as of 2015. It is understood that the subject of infographics has grown in e-learning and social media keywords in 2018–2020, and has gained more importance in the context of education and communication. Due to the impact of COVID19, keywords such as health communication and literacy have come to the fore prominently in 2021–2023. It is clear that urgent distance learning and needed crisis communication have led researchers to consider infographics in the healthcare field throughout their learning processes and beyond. Therefore, it is justifiable to assert that the ability to derive meaning from the provided infographics and to create impactful infographics are essential visual literacy skills that are necessary not only in educational settings but also in critical domains like healthcare.

Future challenge

In this special issue, we focused on the development of VL skills that learners need for infographic creation. In order to develop effective learning processes for strengthening VL skills, a 4-phased pathway can be recommended, beginning with defining the type of infographic to be created and determining the VL skills that will be needed according to this type (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Pathway for designing effective learning processes for VL skill development.

It is critical to develop generic or task specific tools for determining the VL skill level and monitoring the change in skill level during the learning process. The development of tools that allow objective and direct measurement in determining VL skill levels is decisive in terms of designing the appropriate process. Finally, the meticulous approach in these three early stages shapes the design of an efficient learning process for VL skills. The challenge for us, millennial researchers and practitioners, is to surround learners with learning processes that focus on effective and engaging VL skill development, for which this four-step pathway can be recommended as a basis.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Visual Literacy Journal, Dr. Maria D. Avgerinou, for the opportunity to guest edit this special issue on infographics. My respect also goes to my doctoral supervisor, Prof. Dr. Buket Akkoyunlu, for supporting me in my Ph.D. on infographics. Further, I would like to express my gratitude to my colleague, Dr. Turgay Baş, who recommended that I begin my doctoral studies search with the keyword ‘infographics’. Last but not least, I would like to thank all the authors for their significant contributions, as well as the reviewers for their valuable time and feedback that helped us improve the manuscripts for this special issue.