How do you make infographics that are easy to understand?

"A picture is worth a thousand words" certainly holds true, especially in the realm of infographics. The primary goal here is to distill data into a well-organized visual, akin to assembling Lego blocks to form a structured image for the audience. During my tenure at a prominent Print Media organization, the initial step in simplifying data was to grasp the narrative it conveyed. Once you have a clear grasp of the story that the data conveys, you're already halfway towards achieving your goal. Adding icons, subtle colors, utilizing charts and graphs—these are not the sole avenues to enhance the overall impact. It's essential to be creative in your approach, allowing the data to be molded into a truly insightful product for your audience.

When it comes to a general audience (see: the office as a whole), always assume that your target audience is merely glancing at your infographic on the hurried way to their next meeting, or casually scrolling through an internal feed where it is posted. They're half-way through their first cup of coffee, or probably just took their medication, or forgot their reading glasses at their desk (extreme, yes, but still a consideration) but their eyes are on THIS. What is going to keep them from walking, scrolling, or looking away from the meeting presentation, rolling their eyes at tired jargon and unimaginative clickbait syntax in the headline?

Infographics are ultimately an extension of graphic design, and we must apply the same basic principles such as color, typography, branding, etc. It is crucial not to sacrifice the content for the visual aspect, even though it needs to be aesthetically appealing to grab our attention. Additionally, keep in mind that the user experience is almost more important than the user interface. The challenge lies in finding the perfect balance between both aspects. Defining the style through strong communication with the client from the outset and condensing the content as much as possible is essential to avoid getting lost in an excess of elements that are impossible to follow.

Knowing the audience can help a lot to introduce and be effective in creating and sharing an infographic. Each target audience, considering their age, job, study time... can want a different style of infographic.

Knowing your audience is vital. Are they in busy work locations where quick glances are all they have time for or is it a relaxed environment where more reading time is available. Simplicity is the key. Test out your infographics on a variety of people first and get feedback. If someone asks "what does this mean?" after looking at it for a few seconds, then it's time to go back to the drawing board.

I'm coming from a background where topic and data are usually assigned at the end of a project's run (as part of postmortem reports, for example), but it is always good to be in good, clear communication with the audience of your infographic, doing active research (ex. asking questions at meetings, chatting with members of your audience--virtually, over text, or in-person--, getting ideas from varied sources) and taking notes on what information will be useful and interesting to said audience. What will get them excited? What will incentivize them to action?

Audience-Centric Approach: Even if topics and data are assigned later, engaging with your audience early is smart. Actively research their needs and interests through conversations and varied sources. Identify what excites them and what drives action. This audience-centered approach ensures your infographic hits the mark with relevance and impact.

Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity. The main goal of an infographic is to convey information to an fast-moving world that gets distracted easily and has little time or desire to process information. If you have description copy on your graphic, make it shorter. Then make it shorter again. Make sure the narrative is easy to follow and the steps you want the viewer to navigate are as clear as you can make them. Number them if you need to. Show the graphic to people, before it goes live and gauge their reactions. If they express any confusion, suppress the urge to explain it to them, because you've missed the mark and you need to go back and rethink and redesign your layout/messaging/narrative.

Bid leads and capture managers are often not visual people, meaning that they can understand a concept in detail but can't always put it on paper. As a proposal graphic designer, I interview and talk through a concept with our bid leads and then outline and sketch the information into a logical visual layout before rendering it with Adobe Illustrator. Then, send a first draft for review and you'll be surprised how excited your bid leads are to see their ideas on paper. Finally, incorporate their feedback into a final graphic before adding it into your response.

Pay attention to story telling. It is another crucial aspect to incorporate into your infographic, as it can help in creating a narrative flow that guides viewers through the information in a compelling way. Choosing the right elements and graphics that shows your ability to be a great designer. Main this is Hierarchy in any infographic, what comes first and what the user should read first. With this, you'll not only create an informative infographic but also one that captivates and informs your audience effectively.

Collaborate for Clarity! Working closely with non-visual team members, such as bid leads, is essential. Interview and discuss concepts before translating them into visuals. Share drafts for feedback and alignment. This ensures a clear and logical layout, preventing confusion, and ensuring your infographic effectively conveys the intended message. Collaboration is key to infographics that shine.

Considering that the audience is already receiving information from your design, the more simple/clear and dynamic the layout is, the less they need to split their attention figuring your design out.

If your company doesn't have a color palette, use the customer's colors--they like what they know. Go to their website and take a screenshot and input it into Adobe's color palette building tool. It will give you a coordinated (and accessible, if you wish) color palette that you can use to make all of your graphics looks seamless. As for the font, if the RFP doesn't specify what size and family to use, choose a family that is easily legible and size that doesn't make your reader squint or zoom. I try to stick to a 9 pt minimum, and use Arial Narrow when space constraints are tight.

Some general ideas on colors and fonts- neutrals or muted colors usually help bright color accents pop. When in doubt, a sans serif will look neater, cleaner and more professional Save bold, underline, and italicizing of fonts for special emphasis that should be intentional, necessary, and consistent. Center justified usually looks better than just center aligned If you want something universally pleasing, that will get my vote, put colors in prism or spectrum order ????????????????????♀??? You can also manipulate opacity levels to indicate correlation, your category could be a fully opaque shape while its levels are varying degrees of opacity so you can easily convey multiple details with subtle variance.

Choose colors that align with your message and evoke the right emotions. Focus on the industry you are targeting. Prioritize Readability: Try keeping it to Sans Serif font type to maintain readability. Create Visual Hierarchy, Use font sizes, styles, and colors to establish a clear hierarchy in your content. Maintain Consistency with colors. Stick to a limited number of colors and ensure they complement each other. But still, it is on you whether you go out of the box.

I see a lot of mistakes in this department, and I just want to say: - Do NOT use every color in the color wheel! In fact, limit your color usage to 1-3 colors that work together very well. - Do NOT use every font in the font database and--for goodness sake--keep it legible to as many people as possible! Serif fonts may have made a comeback in the graphic design world for headers, but sans-serif fonts are much more universally legible. NO SCRIPT OR CURSIVE unless it is brand-relevant! If the company has a style guide for their brand, keep that in your tabs at all times, and be smart about how you deviate from it, if necessary. Have articles about design bookmarked (esp. company-provided ones) so you can make intelligent design choices.

The font and type of writing can be more important than any color. If you use the right complementary colors and a bright background with the correct display and arrangement of fonts, you will have a high percentage of confidence that the audience will patiently look at and understand the entire infographic.

Charts and graphs are only as effective as they are relevant and legible. Look at your data and really consider what would be the best chart or graph to represent your information. Is there any way the information can be misinterpreted or confusing? If you are using a database to generate the chart, is everything properly tagged, in the right table, and are the formulas correct?

Adding images and icons to infographics enhances visual appeal and aids information conveyance. Key considerations: Visual Appeal: Images and icons capture attention. Content Reinforcement: They reinforce your message, providing context and emphasizing key points. Visual Metaphors: Simplify complex ideas with icons as metaphors. Emotional Impact: Use images for emotional connection. Consistency: Ensure visuals align with your message. Quality: High-quality visuals maintain professionalism. Copyright: Use licensed visuals, respecting copyrights. Incorporating visuals thoughtfully enhances an infographic's engagement, clarity, and memorability.

The name says it: infoGRAPHICS but it is also incredibly important not to overuse images. Having too many images and graphics can make the whole design overwhelming.

In crafting kick-ass infographics, images and icons are your secret sauce. They simplify complex stuff, add flair, and connect with your audience on a whole other level. But don't go overboard - keep it simple, use quality visuals, and play nice with copyrights. Rock that infographic!

Captivating and targeted images can convey the topic to the audience very quickly, take time and choose or create the right images. Icons can also make the headlines more visible in addition to the texts.

Don't forget about accessibility when creating graphics. Some people can't see your graphic or have low vision. Use symbols or something other than color to differentiate items in graphs and charts, and always add alternative text for people who use screen reading technology.

Infographics need to be partly aesthetically interesting and part explanatory. Those that fare best are those which do well on both parts. They’re visual representation of a complex problem. There is no uniform solution, it is a great medium between artistic representation and explanation. Some focus only on the artistic representation but lack information and substance. Others are just substance with no artistic representation. If you can only pick one, chose the latter. But if you want to make something great find a balance between the two.