HOW should you serve information in the modern age? The pace of the day has quickened so that often complex information needs to be available in a second and digested just as quickly, whether that’s on traditional paper, smartphone screens or giant displays.

This naturally changes how people want their details cooked up and served out.

Keltie Cochrane in Gateshead designs “infographics” or “data visualisations” for clients including the BBC, the Wall Street Journal and the Government, and company co-founder Jason Cochrane says there is constant demand for a visual style of presenting information.

“We’re always getting requests,” he said. “We can use data visualisation to enhance documents and make end-of-year reports more appealing.

“We’re trying to create something more visual as people’s attention span is quite short these days. It’s about providing quick visual information.”

Cochrane is a former Newcastle College student who started by creating print infographics for the Sunday Times and Observer before spending a decade at BBC News Interactive.

The possibilities of visually representing an idea have increased as technology leaps forward.

“It used to be about basically pulling things apart in a visual to show how they worked, like a turbine or jet engine”, he said.

“There’s still nothing nicer for me than seeing a really well done printed infographic. They are still the classic infographics, and static infographics are brilliant if you know the outcome.

“But interactive infographics can now give you a great idea of what was and what can be. What the BBC do for elections is a good example of what you can do with this sort of infographic, using a slider to look at different scenarios.”