Finance video graphics: how to make numbers clear without distorting them

The graphic must preserve the meaning of the number

A good finance graphic shows what is being measured, over what period, against which comparison and under which assumptions. Motion should help the viewer follow that explanation. It should not make a small change look enormous, turn a hypothetical scenario into an apparent result or remove a qualification before it can be read.

This is an editorial and production checklist, not investment advice or a statement of legal compliance. The organisation’s authorised subject and compliance reviewers should approve the relevant claims. An accurate-looking chart cannot validate the underlying data.

Build a source-to-screen record

For each numerical scene, keep the source, date, unit, period, calculation and intended spoken claim together. Record whether the figures are actual, forecast or illustrative. That record gives a reviewer something more useful than “please check this animation”.

The same figure can be correct and still mislead when its context changes. Monthly revenue and annual revenue are not interchangeable. A nominal amount is not automatically adjusted for inflation. A gross return is not a net return. Write the distinction into the scene specification rather than expecting the editor to infer it from a spreadsheet.

Check percentage points separately from percentage change

Illustrative calculation: a rate moving from 20% to 25% rises by 5 percentage points. Relative to the original 20%, the increase is 25%, because 5 divided by 20 equals 0.25. “Up 5%” is not a precise description of the percentage-point difference. The graphic, narration and caption must use the same interpretation.

Another illustrative calculation: a value moving from 80 to 84 increases by 5%. If the bar chart starts at 79, the visible heights can make the second bar appear five times the first. That visual comparison does not represent a fivefold increase in the underlying value.

ONS guidance calls for a zero baseline for bars and other charts where the length or filled area represents magnitude. A cropped axis can be appropriate for a line chart when the purpose is to examine change, provided the range and labels make the interpretation clear. “Every chart must start at zero” is not the right rule either.

Sources: Office for National Statistics: Axes and gridlines

Review the frames between the start and finish

A correct final chart can pass through misleading intermediate states. If one series arrives before another, viewers may read it as a lead rather than an entrance effect. If a counter climbs from zero to a projected value, the animation may feel like achieved growth. Ask what a paused frame appears to claim.

Keep comparison series aligned to the same time period. Show important units and scenario labels when the data appears, not only on the final frame. Do not use colour as the only way to distinguish categories: labels or other visual cues should carry the distinction too.

Review at normal playback speed and on a phone. A caveat that exists technically but disappears before a viewer can read it is not doing its communication job. Simplify the scene before making essential text smaller.

Consistency is part of accuracy

FDM’s AssetPlus work spans a 100-video education library for mutual fund distributors. That experience is relevant to the production problem: a library needs repeatable treatment of headings, emphasis and explanations. It is not evidence that a particular graphic caused an investment or business result.

For a finance series, add a small chart style sheet to the wider editing system. Agree how units, dates, illustrative values, definitions and citations appear. Reusing those rules reduces avoidable variation. Still check every new scene: a consistent template can repeat a mistake just as efficiently as a correct decision.

Sources: FDM: AssetPlus 100-video education library

Give reviewers decisions they can actually approve

Separate data approval from visual approval. First confirm the numbers, calculations and wording. Then review whether the storyboard represents them faithfully. Finally inspect the exported video, including captions and cropped versions. A short-form crop may remove the axis label that made the full-frame version clear.

Before handover, ask one person who did not build the scene to explain what the chart says. If they infer a stronger claim than intended, the graphic needs work even when every digit is correct. Keep the approved source-to-screen record with the final asset so the next update does not begin from guesswork.