A look at some popular information design techniques.

Data, illustrated – numbers, as concepts versus their real-world implications, are often most effectively conveyed as statistical graphics, as The Times‘ explainer on ‘R value’ shows (please ignore the thumbnail, the video contains no politics, only scientific information):

Abstract symbols – the more complex the ideas, the simpler the symbols used to represent them. Mental health, medication and research individually are never complete or fixed, and together intersect in ever-shifting ways, as elegantly conveyed in this abstract animation on bipolar disorder by Uncle Ginger for TedEd:

Animated Photographs – vector graphics, text and photographic images can all be animated the same way. ‘This jet fighter is a disaster…’ keeps dry concepts fresh by adopting this mixed-media aesthetic (via Vox – more on Vox’s infographic videos here):

All of the above combined – Estelle Caswell‘s video on J Dilla’s music production process is 2D yet literally never static (More on the motion design of Vox here):