

Ask HN: would you use an API to create attractive infographics? - antonwinter


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1123581321
No. The reason is that good info-graphics designs coordinate the design of the
element to strengthen the message of the element's data, and the overall
layout and story to strengthen the message of all the data. I do not think it
is possible to programmatically accomplish this, so I would not use the API.

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antonwinter
i guess your take is that to be effective, a person has to do the emphasis on
the elements that are important, not a program. fair call.

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sotu25
Yes, I would. Seems it would be particularly useful for content marketers. I'd
also like to know how you plan to do this with an API.

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antonwinter
predominately via templates. pass in data via json. hopefully it can be made
really simple for the coders to use.

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coryl
Coders don't make infographics. Graphic designers and marketers do.
Infographics are highly customized to their topics and you pretty much need to
be an illustrator to make a good one.

I'm confused about how an infographic made through a template would look. Any
examples?

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rdouble
Infographics are increasingly made by software people like Ben Fry. The NYT
has a whole team dedicated to these sorts of graphics.

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coryl
I haven't seen his work, but I suppose we should clarify the distinction
between infographic and data visualization.

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antonwinter
im purely thinking of inforgraphics atm. in my head dv is more on the
scientific plotting and charting side, while infographics is more about
conveying key metrics in a visually attractive way.

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peteforde
No, but I am probably not your target market. Who do you imagine your target
market to be?

I urge you to consider that an infographic's job is to provide a compelling
narrative that helps the viewer take away a new data-driven truth. Without the
story, any machine-driven infographic would just be pointless, no matter how
nice it looks.

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antonwinter
story line is a compelling element. that is good feedback. i will mull on that
one.

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lsiebert
I would if it was free, which probably isn't too helpful. I probably wouldn't
if it cost money, unless it was integrated into something else I was using and
was super easy to get going.

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antonwinter
that makes sense. not that i have anything specific in mind, but i was
thinking free for personal use and something cheap for business use

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t0
Maybe a wysiwyg infographic tool. How would you do this with just an API?

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antonwinter
it would start with templates, then a web service that takes json as the data
to populate the templates. and outputting a pdf ( or maybe other output types
as well ).

