There is something pleasant and effective about infusing a flowing visual experience with the relaying of information, particularly within the course of giving a presentation to a large audience. It can make content that much more digestible and less “boring” - a word the creators of the Malaysian start-up company Piktochart have used to describe the over 1,000 “dull” presentations they have had to endure. Piktochart’s co-founders, Ai Ching and Andrea Zaggia have come together to create a web application for constructing infographics that will make presentations proceed more quickly and clearly.
The infographic templates offered on the site are overflowing with visual eye-candy. Many may think that such an abundance of visual stimulation might be counterproductive or distracting in the aim of making complex information comprehensible. But they may also quickly begin to notice that it actually has the opposite effect - owing primarily to the efficacy of visual learning.

The retention of information is far greater when it is presented using both visual and verbal mediums. When learning through lectures, it is highly suggested to make illustrations as you take notes or draw pictures to help you visualize information. Graphs, maps, and images are helpful in retaining information  A large component of cognition is bound up in the notion of employing images that help one focus on meaning, reorganize and group similar ideas easily and, of course, make good use of visual memory. Think of the use of multi-colored flashcards as a strategy for memorizing the gender of nouns for students of language. Piktochart functions in an analogous way and prides themselves on turning “black and white” information into “colorful” information.

Their user interface is both easy and intuitive when it comes to putting presentations together. Users simply appropriate their text to designated areas of the template and the software takes care of the rest. The present abundance of static image infographics on Piktochart’s web site will soon be followed by animation options that lend even more movement to a presentation.

With Piktochart, you are not merely stringing together a bunch of information in sequential order but also making an interactive story out of it with the ability to take advantage of the DIY Infographic Creator. Since their inception in July, 2011, with funding from Chinaccelerator, a program that provides funding and mentorship for startup companies, they have been making steady progress in the way of expanding into Singapore as well as the European market.

Sectors which rely on effective means of organizing and dealing with large amount of data so as to present and communicate it to a larger public audience in a digestible, simple way are the target audience for Piktochart, and they certainly hope to reel in their attention. Medical, marketing, media, education, research, and government agencies can all potentially benefit from this service. Lets see how long Piktochart, with its clever conception of color and excitement, takes to catch on, especially with such big competition like Microsoft PowerPoint.