Infographics Usa Chartjunk People Colors Readers Simply Main

As "graphic design" (the process of creating attractive graphics) has become simpler with the "rise" (increased use) of personal computers, infographics are becoming increasingly common. However, they "face" (deal with) a lot of "criticism" (negative comments), because many infographics are unhelpful "at best" (in the best situations) and "deceptive" (causing people to believe something that is not true) "at worst" (in the worst situations).

A good infographic should avoid "distorting" (change the size, making smaller/bigger things seem bigger/smaller than they actually are) data. They should use colors to "enhance" (improve) understanding of "patterns" (meaningful relationships between data), not only for decoration and interest.

USA Today, a national daily newspaper, has "come under fire" (been criticized heavily) for its overuse of poor infographics. USA Today uses infographics to try to make it easier for readers to understand complex information, but "critics" (people who don't like something) say that the newspaper's infographics "oversimplify" (make too simply and basic) the news stories.

Many people argue that USA Today's infographics contain too much "chartjunk," or information that does not need to be included, but it added "merely" (only) for entertainment. Chartjunk can "take many forms" (be available in many different types). Sometimes chartjunk is simply "superfluous" (extra; unnecessary) colors or "gradients" (slow changes from one color to another), or dark "gridlines" (horizontal or vertical lines that cross the main part of a graph). But "chartjunk" can also refer to "extraneous" (extra and not necessary) information. In all cases, chartjunk distracts readers from the main idea.