Infographics

          For my very first venture into infographics, I played around with and compared three sites, easel.ly, infogr.am, and Piktochart.  I began with infogr.am, where with the free Basic program I was allowed only public content, 10 infographic projects, up to two map charts and up to two image downloads.  It was fairly easy to use.  I was given the option of 11 different templates and upon selecting one, it was easy to edit the title and charts/graphs, add text and media, as well as upload pictures from my computer.  An upgrade to the Pro plan for about $230/year allows you to store your project privately and offers a much wider variety of templates, maps and image options.
          The second site I toyed around with was easel.ly.  Like infogr.am, I was easily able to create an account by linking to my Facebook account.  However, I wasn't prompted to enter some absurdly weird username as I was in infogr.am.  I was taken directly to the project page where I could choose a template.  There were an abundance of publicly available visuals that you could choose and edit, or there was an option to start from scratch.  With the click of a button you could insert objects in a variety of themes, stock photos or you tube videos.  You can also change the background, draw, add shapes, text or charts.  I like that there was also a zoom button where I could shrink the image and view the entire infographic without having to scroll the page down.  With the free account I had access to 60 free images and 10 fonts.  By upgrading to the Pro account for only $3/month you could access over 600,000 images and 50 fonts.  It would also allow you to keep your work private and upload your own fonts and logos.
          The last site I explored and my favorite was Piktochart.  Like the ones before it, it was easy to sign up using my Facebook account and I was taken to the project screen were I could choose to create an infographic, presentation, poster or report.  There were 10 templates to choose from with my free account or I could start from scratch.  With the graphics button there was plenty to choose from including, shapes, lines, icons, photos and frames.  It was also a breeze to upload my own pictures from my computer.  There were plenty of backgrounds to choose from, as well as text options and frames.  You could easily insert and edit charts, maps and graphs, and even insert a link to a Survey Monkey survey!  And this was all with the free account.  There are two options for upgrades, a Lite account for $15/month and a Pro account for $29/month.  I only wish there were a zoom in/out button so that I could easily view the entire graphic on one page.  It was a little difficult to arrange properly when I couldn't see the whole thing at once.  Here is the graphic I ultimately created using information from the Pew Research Center...

Sources

Pew Research Center. (November, 2012). Politics Fact Sheet. Retrieved           

          from http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/politics-fact-sheet/