5 Tips for Creating a Great Infographic
A good infographic does more than inform your audience of what you’re trying to teach them. It’s vital to get everything right, from the colors to the wording, in order to make it engaging and effective. For example, nobody wants to stare at an over-stimulating graphic with hard-to-read fonts, but at the same time, no one wants to read dry facts that aren’t presented in an interesting way.
If you want to take your infographic game to the next level and stand out in a sea of average-looking designs, here are five tips that’ll help your next one be not just good but great!
Table of Contents
1. Know Your Goal
It may seem obvious, but to make a good infographic, you need to know a few things before you get started:
- Who are you targeting?
- What information do you want to get across?
- What is the goal of sharing this information?
Let’s say that you’re trying to explain to high school students the process of applying for a college, with the ultimate goal of getting those students to find your website informative and helpful. You should do your research ahead of time to determine what these students are interested in learning. Then, find ways to present that with the limited space you have while avoiding language that is too dry or technical. On the other hand, if you’re targeting business people looking to retire, you’ll be talking to a demographic that’s more likely used to more technical language. Both demographics are also known to have different tastes in visual design and formatting.
Once you know exactly who you’re trying to target, what information that group is interest in, and what your ultimate goal is, you can work on creating the infographic.
2. Keep It Simple
No matter your point and who you’re making the infographic for, you have to keep in mind that you’ll be condensing a lot of information down into a small space, and most of that space will be fill by the visual design. Don’t go overboard on the specifics – focus on the basics and remove any information that doesn’t need to be there to make your point. For example, if this paragraph was part of an infographic, you could include something like, “Keep it simple and remove any unimportant information.”
Additionally, your word choice should be simplified. While some demographics will have a higher tolerance for complicated phrasing and jargon, it’s best to stick to wording everyone can understand. There’s more to it than simply helping the reader understand you better. With less space to expand upon your points, using complicated words will only eat up that space faster without being informative or interesting to the reader.
Your design also shouldn’t be too over-complicate. We’ve all seen images that are hard to understand because of how much there is to look at. Your design is the template you’re using to get your information across, not the main selling point of the infographic – and while it should be eye-catching, it should also be easy to follow.
3. Use The Graphics To Your Advantage
While the goal of the infographic is to get information across and not just to be visually stunning, graphic elements are a more creative way to make your point or even as a way to share information without using words at all. In short, you shouldn’t treat your visual design as more important than your information, but well-made graphics are a great way to supplement and enhance your ability to share that information. That’s the power of visual communication and design done right.
When it comes to visual communication, it includes everything from color choices to how you choose to organize the information. The symbolism alone can convey a lot to your audience. Specific colors can affect moods and opinions. While certain shapes are inherently more interesting and meaningful to the eye than others. Whatever you’re trying to explain in the infographic, you can back it up with proper design.
Whether designing it yourself or hiring a graphic or website design agency to help, you should always consider the various ways your visuals can enhance your point.
4. Make it Readable
An infographic is useless if your audience isn’t able to read it. There’s a difference between making a picture large enough to capture attention and one so large it can’t fit on a computer screen. Stick to a size that isn’t only manageable to read but doesn’t take up too much space on the website. Images that are too large can eat up data or slow down computers. Which is not an effective way to get people to pay attention or trust your business as a resource.
While you want to be informative and visual, you don’t want to pack so much into the infographic that you lose any white space. This white (or blank) space is good for keeping the image balanced and appealing. Not every inch of the image needs to be fill. And having too much going on will only make it look messy and over-complicated. Which brings us back to keeping it simple.
5. Edit Your Work
Once you have all your info type out, and your visuals look good, you may think your job is done. It’s time to title it, save it, and upload it, right?
Not exactly.
Remember, your goal here is to be informative. You should always ensure your information is accurate before you go live. Check your sources, make sure that everything is as concise and exciting as possible. And look for any spelling or grammar error. Even minor issues can harm your credibility and make people question if you have made other errors. Going the extra mile can ensure you’re putting out something you can be proud of.
So, take that time to be sure you’re creating the best content possible. Consider asking yourself a few final questions, such as:
- Is the font readable? Does it fit the subject, or does it clash?
- Are the graphics distracting?
- Is all of the information accurate? Is it being present in the best way possible?
- Would you want to read it, or would you get bored?
Once you’re confident that you’ve double-checked your work and that everything looks professional. You’re ready to go live and present your new infographic to the world.