INFOGRAPHIC! Facebook: Supercharging your apps

Our infographic depicts how Facebook has helped apps grow and develop, and the effect that being on the world's biggest social platform can have on your own app. The inspiration behind the infographic started off with a look at the impressive stats of Facebook.

Microsoft veteran Douglas Purdy recently wrote a blog post showcasing the importance of Facebook and app development. He states, "Many times I get asked by developers, 'should I build for Facebook or mobile?', and the answer is, 'both'. It's not a question of one or the other. Mobile apps, just like apps on Facebook.com, can benefit from an audience of more than 900 million users, 500 million of whom are active Facebook mobile users.

"Regardless if an app lives on a mobile platform, like iOS or Android, or on Facebook.com, it can plug into Facebook and grow through News Feed, Timeline, Requests, Bookmarks, Search, and now the App Center. Last month, Facebook drove people to iOS apps 134 million times, and to the Apple App Store 83 million times. By enabling people to log into their apps with Facebook, mobile developers can reach a wider audience, and keep people coming back."

How was it made?

The infographic was created by our resident designer James Hollingworth who used a mixture of grunge and distressed brushes in Photoshop 5.0 as well as Illustrator 5.0. He makes the shapes and objects in Illustrator 5.0 and then uses Photoshop 5.0 to layer and group the shapes together. This way, the content is better organised and enables the infographic to have a more organic style.

• See our in-depth review of Photoshop CS6

What do you think of our first infographic? Let us know in the comments box below!