Why are infographics winning so much recognition from audiences around the world? Their unique feature is the ability to present extensive, often difficult information in a very simple way. In addition, they most often present them in a very memorable way. They relate to many fields, ranging from science and technology to society and culture. Recently, they have also become an interesting and effective form of advertising. How to Infographic Design, will help you learn how to plan and then create a good infographic.
What are the infographics we love so much?
Infographics have traditionally been viewed as visual elements such as signs, charts, maps, and diagrams intended to help you understand a given textual content. Often their message is stronger than in the case of words or pictures alone. Iconography uses the visual elements of a design to present the recipient with the context and meaning of certain facts in the simplest possible way that they have never experienced.
Why are modern infographics so popular?
Prehistoric people knew how to infographic design. They created the first graphic information – first they were cave paintings, then the first maps began to be created. What makes today’s forms of infographics so popular is their ability to present difficult information in an easy way. This is the magic of infographics.
What are the types of infographics that work for business?
There are many types of infographics. Many of them are specialized forms of imaging
that can present content in a unique and abstract way. In most cases, it’s worth much more than a thousand words.
- Discovering cause-and-effect relationships,
- Presenting a huge amount of information in a simple and easy-to-understand manner,
- Transmission or transmission of messages and messages,
- Periodic monitoring of changes in certain parameters.
Type 1: Infographics based on statistical data.
Graphical information is a visual tool designed to convey complex information quickly and easily. These tools include diagrams, charts, tables, maps, and lists. Charts can be, for example, bar charts or pie charts. Thanks to them, a lot of complex statistical information can be summarized and presented in how to infographic design.
Type 2: Timeline-based infographic.
Timelines are other types of Infographics that use a visual representation of information and events set in time. The presentation of the chronological order of events is arranged along a line that allows the viewer to quickly understand the different time relationships.
Type 3: Process-based infographic.
These types of iconography can usually be seen in a factory or office workspaces. They usually illustrate some process. They can also be found, for example, in cookery magazines, where they present recipes.
Type 4: Geography and location infographic.
It is the most common type of iconography that can be found everywhere – from school maps to complex astronomical graphics. These types of iconography include lines, symbols, icons, diagrams, tables, arrows, and dots. There are many types of lines (parallel, dashed, straight) that are used to define, for example, subway maps, streets, roads, and railroads.
There are also many icons and symbols to identify specific landmarks, such as schools, churches, hospitals, and banks. An important element is also the scale, which determines the relation of the presented objects to reality.
How to make an infographic your audience will love?
Learn the rules and principles that will make this sentence easier for you. Before starting the development process, you need to answer three simple questions:
Why?
These are the most important of these questions. Why do you want to create an infographic? What is it for? What is its purpose? We have to define what their character will be. But first, we should consider what kind of data we have and what we want to achieve.
How?
Once you know exactly why you are creating iconography, you need to think about how you want to present your data. When the data is processed, you need to choose the most effective visual form. Under certain circumstances, changing the color palette or chart type can change the situation dramatically.
Is it working?
Now there is a critical moment in which you have to decide whether the result of the work is in line with what you have assumed. If it does not match what was agreed in Step One, we have failed and must start over (Step One).
There is no documented rule here that tells you how to verify the result, but by answering these three questions you need to be able to judge whether the work is positive or negative. The key is to keep checking and experimenting with what you have done until you notice an improvement if you want to learn how to infographic design.
Don’t forget the basic rules for designing an infographic.
Wireframe and diagrams
Create an infographic like any other graphic design. It is good to outline the skeleton of how the whole thing is supposed to look, to indicate in words what the individual elements are to represent. Put together a skeleton of words and arrows by grouping related information together and visualizing the flow of information with diagrams.
Choice of colors, typography.
A perfect layout, lots of choices,s and a good idea can create something really creative when combined. Patterns, textures, and typography are used much more often than we think, and their variances can vary a lot of designs.
Changing the colors and reducing the saturation of those elements that are less important, while increasing the saturation of those more important elements, e.g. changing typography, font size, eliminating everything that adds nothing to the project (unnecessary graphs, duplicate data, unnecessary labels), without losing relevant information, sometimes leads to surprisingly good results.
Research and data
It is obvious that all infographics must be backed by carefully researched facts. After collecting all the data, it is necessary to screen and select the ones that are most important to us and we want to present them in our project. The next element is to determine the target group to which the infographic is to be sent. Define the colors, icons, and complexity of your design according to your target audience.
12 rules for creating effective infographics
- Fit within sight
Just like dashboards, the most readable infographics are those that can be seen by the recipient. The easiest way is to link information that can be compared side by side. Scrolling large, vertical infographics can be tedious, so try to make at least the most important data visible without having to scroll.
- Tell a story
Apart from the fact that an infographic should be effective and visually interesting, it should also tell a story through data, charts, maps, etc. The main purpose of an infographic is to convey sometimes difficult information in an easy, pleasant and sometimes fun way. The project should communicate the most important elements of the story without overloading the audience with too much information.
- Communicate complex data in an easy way
The best infographics are created by simplifying complex ideas into their most easily digestible forms. They show trends and relationships between data with easy-to-understand graphical elements. Therefore, any elements that do not directly contribute to understanding the story should be eliminated from the infographics – let the data and graphics speak for themselves.
- Use graphs that are easy to interpret
It happens that the created infographics are full of fancy and often overcomplicated visualizations. Keep the charts easy to interpret and encourage you to delve into the history hidden within them. As the pie chart is not easy to interpret, try to avoid it.
- Create panels
The panel chart allows you to compare the data by placing the compared elements next to each other, at the same time we use the rule number 1 – all the most important data are within sight.
- Show the human dimension of numbers and relate it to something interesting
The visual aspect of an infographic is extremely important because it makes it easier to remember difficult information. Let’s make the numbers that we want to present refer to something interesting and be pleasant to read. For example, the phrase “1 in 5” sounds much better than “20%”. More examples in the price infographics below:
- Facilitate dissemination
Sharing graphics allows you to take full advantage of it. In the case of web infographics, they should be able to be shared on social networks, and sent by e-mail.
- Combine visual appeal and creativity
The more visually interesting, colorful, and eye-catching the infographic is, the better – we have a better chance that it will be remembered. However, it is not advisable to exaggerate the colors, use them sparingly and at the right times.
- Don’t overdo the icons
The infographic must be legible. The recipient should understand what it is about and what it is supposed to convey. The excess of icons can make it unreadable and incomprehensible.
- Let the data speak
Let the picture speak for itself, after all, it is worth more than a thousand words. Tracking the Infographics often make data difficult to interpret.
- Watch various infographics on the Internet, be inspired by them
You will find many different types of infographics on the web and get inspired by the best ones. You will also find forums and social networks where you can always ask for opinions and advice.
- Use available programs to create infographics
The available applications are intuitive and usually free. They offer tons of templates and elements that you can use. The best I have found is Canva.
Find other articles like How to Infographic Design on The Daily Blog
Sign up for daily email delivery of new posts
You can unsubscribe at any time.