Style combination · Contrasts

Instagram Slideshow Activism × Newsroom Data Graphics

Sourced charts with a stated finding are the next step from a slide of bare bullet-point claims; the source line on every slide is common ground, since @soyouwanttotalkabout's maker said hers stood out for 'including sources at the bottom of every slide'.

From the research on Instagram Slideshow Activism (Social-Justice Infographics)

Mix them and make something Instagram Slideshow Activism Newsroom Data Graphics

A sample layout drawn from the recipe: shapes from Newsroom Data Graphics, their arrangement from Newsroom Data Graphics, the finish from Instagram Slideshow Activism. Not a real work, and not an image of either style.

What each style brings

Each part of the design comes from the style with the stronger say in it, and each style gives at least two.

Instagram Slideshow Activism (Social-Justice Infographics) Newsroom Data Graphics & Scrollytelling

Type from Instagram Slideshow Activism: Type as image
Humanist & Garalde serif
Colour from Instagram Slideshow Activism: Pastel
Flat fields
Form from Newsroom Data Graphics: Rectilinear
Geometric primitives
Composition from Newsroom Data Graphics: Column grid
Layered information
Surface from Instagram Slideshow Activism: Flat

The type

Open fonts standing in for each style’s own type, which is often hand-drawn or commercial.

Display · Instagram Slideshow Activism

Index

DM Serif Display; Instagram Slideshow Activism used Large display serifs on the title card and Ovo (Nicole Fally, Sorkin Type, 2011), a medium-contrast serif with soft serifs and old-style letter widths

Text · Newsroom Data Graphics

The house style of newspaper graphics desks since about 2009–2011 (the New York Times graphics desk, D3.js, the Guardian Datablog): conventional charts drawn from the data, on a white or pale paper ground with light grey gridlines and no axis titles, lines labelled directly in place of a legend where possible and short annotations saying what to look at. A flush-left title states the finding and a source line closes the chart; one highlight colour picks out the story against grey context. In long-form pieces the graphic stays pinned while the text scrolls past and steps it through its states.

Inter; Newsroom Data Graphics used Helvetica and Arial

The colours

The ground and leading colours come from Instagram Slideshow Activism, with a counter-accent from Newsroom Data Graphics. The ink reads on the ground at 4.5:1 or more.

Instagram Slideshow Activism (Social-Justice Infographics) Newsroom Data Graphics & Scrollytelling

#fdf6ec ground · 36%
#1e1e1e ink · 14%
#c9962c accent · 18%
#faab18 accent · 14%
#b9d7ee accent · 10%
#1380a1 accent · 8%

As CSS

:root {
  --ground: #fdf6ec;
  --ink: #1e1e1e;
  --accent-1: #c9962c;
  --accent-2: #faab18;
  --accent-3: #b9d7ee;
  --accent-4: #1380a1;
  --font-display: "DM Serif Display", serif;
  --font-text: "Inter", sans-serif;
}

Use it with care

Instagram Slideshow Activism (Social-Justice Infographics): The look grew out of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, and critics such as the sociologist Eve Ewing warned that slides flatten complex problems and summarise the work of often Black authors without credit: name and link every source, credit the people whose work you condense, and check claims before posting. Do not turn the names and faces of people killed by police into decorative or shareable motifs; Vox quotes a warning that the look can 'commodify tragedy and obfuscate revolutionary messages' and notes that Breonna Taylor's death 'devolved into a meme'. Do not dress brand marketing in the look to perform allyship without action, and remember that its friendly packaging works for any message, including an army's messaging in an armed conflict (the IDF slideshow of May 2021) and misinformation, which text inside images makes hard to moderate. Write the slide text into the caption or alt text so screen-reader users can follow it.

Newsroom Data Graphics & Scrollytelling: The look signals checked, sourced reporting: never use it to present invented, unsourced or AI-generated figures as data, always name the source, and do not copy a newspaper's proprietary typefaces, masthead or logo. Give every chart a text summary and do not let colour alone carry the meaning, for readers who use screen readers or cannot tell the highlight colours apart. In a mock-up or generated image the figures are invented: label them plainly as illustrative (for example 'Source: illustrative data'), and never attribute them to a real newspaper, agency, survey or person.

The two styles

A three-by-three grid of nine illustrated educational slides titled “A Kinder Closet” explains the environmental and human impacts of fashion and suggests more sustainable clothing habits. Pastel pink and blue text boxes accompany drawings of people, clothes, Earth, a sewing machine, a tote bag, plants, books and a protest sign.

2020–present · North America, Global / networked Instagram Slideshow Activism (Social-Justice Infographics) The text-led explainer slideshows that filled Instagram after George Floyd's murder in May 2020. Up to ten square or 4:5 slides in one carousel (twenty since August 2024) are read like a PowerPoint deck: a title card in big type with a swipe arrow, then bullet-point slides with sources and a call to action. Pastel pink, yellow and blue grounds, large serif or bubbly, wide sans headings, gradients and playful flat figures, often from Canva templates, borrow the look of millennial brands to reach apolitical readers.

An infographic titled “Greener Commutes” presents line and bar charts comparing commuting methods from 2013 to 2023. Teal, orange, blue and gray graphics on a white background show falling car use, growing low-carbon travel and an estimated reduction in commute emissions.

2009–present · North America, Western Europe Newsroom Data Graphics & Scrollytelling The house style of newspaper graphics desks since about 2009–2011 (the New York Times graphics desk, D3.js, the Guardian Datablog): conventional charts drawn from the data, on a white or pale paper ground with light grey gridlines and no axis titles, lines labelled directly in place of a legend where possible and short annotations saying what to look at. A flush-left title states the finding and a source line closes the chart; one highlight colour picks out the story against grey context. In long-form pieces the graphic stays pinned while the text scrolls past and steps it through its states.

More combinations

With Instagram Slideshow Activism

With Newsroom Data Graphics

Every style combination