Paper 1 Sample Response 2 (Infographic)

          The vital role that physical activity plays for babies and toddlers aged 0-5 is powerfully communicated to the audience through the infographic titled “Physical Activity for Early Years” by the UK government.  While a majority of the readers of this text are parents, this infographic has been designed to appeal to multiple audiences, including said parents themselves and even young children.  The purpose of this text is to inform and educate the target audience about the important of physical activity.  By designing the infographic to be inviting, representing a healthy lifestyle and inspiring others to take action, and using persuasive techniques that strengthen the benefits of physical activity, this text effectively appeals to and communicates with adults and kids alike. 

            Firstly, the visually appealing nature of the infographic is essential for its appeal to both children and parents.  A friendly yet informative tone is established as well through the use of vibrant colors and icons.  The contrast of the orange and the green is essential to encourage viewers to be visually attracted to the text while the icons allows the audience to synthesize information effectively as they correlate words with images.  This coupled with other visual techniques such as the enlargement and bolding of certain important information allows the creator to communicate important facts quickly.  The largest text on the infographic reads “Aim for at least 180 minutes (of movement) per day for children 1-5 years.”  This section of the infographic that viewers first see because it has been designed to deliver the central point to the audience: kids need to be active.  As this infographic contains a lot of information, it has been designed for the attention span of multiple audiences too.  The enlargement of certain information, such as the title and the central message, along with the icons is effective in guiding young children to process and retain the information presented – get moving!

            The use of language to depict the reality of a healthy child, and evoke inspiration amongst the audience to move more is essential in captivating the audience’s attention.  This is because it instills hope and encouragement within viewers that their life could be healthy too. “Active children are healthy, happy, school ready, and sleep better” comes after the title and is the first piece of concrete evidence that viewers see regarding the benefits of the central claim of this infographic.  This sentence is effective in appealing to multiple audiences as it provides hope for parents as well as children of all ages by stating the benefits using a factual tone.  The next logical sentence after this is “every movement counts.”  Here, there is an increase in responsibility that the viewer is made to feel which is powerful in making the audience continue to read to learn what specifically they can do.  The dramatic effect of every movement counting is increased by the successive bolded sentences which says “Get strong. Move More. Break up inactivity.”  Here the audience is directly addressed as if they are receiving orders.  The punctuation and use of full stops to keep the sentences brief enhances the directive nature of the message.  However, it is also helpful in increasing the simplicity of the infographic’s central message that movement is important.  It enables the audience to process minimal information instead of getting overwhelmed, increasing the appeal of this infographic to parents and children.  The depiction of a healthy “ideal” lifestyle choice along with the direct tone that encourages viewers to move is effective in inspiring the audience and communicating the importance of physical activity. 

            Finally, persuasive techniques involving a combination of literary and visual techniques show the direct benefit of movement regarding the quality of life of a child.  The depiction of multiple solutions and examples of actual physical activity is crucial in prompting the audience to take action and make a change in the lifestyle of their child (or for the child themselves to move more).  The first set of icons all outline the positive impacts of physical activity on the communication skills, health, sleep, development and coordination of the child.  All of these facts are laid out in a condensed manner to effectively and efficiently provide an incentive for the audience to continue looking at the infographic.  For example, “contributes to brain development and learning” is one benefit of physical activity provided that no viewer would want to have a lack of this in the life of their child.  This is an example of such an incentive, as viewers are made aware of what they gain by moving.  Next, tools are provided that illustrate examples of physical activity that can help children achieve this goal of moving more.  The usage of icons is once again effective here as it is interactive and breaks down complex information into simple actions.  On the bottom of the poster, the affiliation of the infographic with the “UK Chief Medical Officer’s Physical Activity Guideline” is powerful in increasing the audience’s trust in the information in the infographic.  This increase in reliability and validity is essential in prompting the audience to take action.

            Overall, the visual and literary techniques in the infographic effectively appeal to both parents and children.  The form of an infographic makes it likely that it was advertised somewhere – like a classroom or a doctor’s office – and captivating and retaining the audience’s attention is vital here.  For subject matters like health, instilling a sense of trust and credibility is also very important and this text has done this through the interplay between text and image. 

Word count: 921