Don’t know what an infographic is, but you want to learn? Love infographics, but you’re running out of new and fresh ideas for your latest project? Never fear. Infographic help is here.
Infographics are fun creative ways to communicate information to an audience through images and graphics. The easiest way to think about the infographic creation process is as a process of data visualization. In other words, you are turning numbers and statistics into charts and pictures.
For example, instead of telling the reader that 80% of all of the people in the world love pepperoni pizza versus the 20% that love cheese more, you could put this information next to an image of pizza filled 80% with pepperonis and 20% with cheese. The visualization of this data is not only more fun, but also more engaging for the audience and thus it is more likely the audience will may attention and remember.
However, it is not always easy getting from A to B. It might feel like you are climbing a mountain without the proper equipment if you have never done this before. Don’t worry. Here are some quick tips to get you started or to ground you back in the basics if you are out of ideas.
Decide on the practical. In the stress of getting started, we are so excited to get going that we forget to start with the basics. Before you create an infographic, you need to remember to ask yourself three critical questions: Who is the audience being targeted? What do they need to know? How will this information be communicated to them?
These three questions will get you focused and help you throughout the rest of your project. You can’t start being creative until you know what you are saying and to whom. Plus, you need to know how this information will be delivered. This will determine the size, shape, and maybe even the color pallette. There is nothing like designing the perfect infographic only to realize the magazine you are printing it in has wider pages and the colors you used won’t print correctly. Make sure you figure out the quality and size qualifications and more before you start.
Less is more. Sometimes we are so stressed to be creative we over do it. Often, the most effective infographics only use two or three colors. Simplicity often allows your data to be communicated more clearly. If you are experienced with creating infographics, this is an important reminder for you. When I hit a creative block, I stop and clear the slate and start all over again from scratch focusing on the basics.
Scour the internet and world for ideas. Being creative may seem an overwhelming task, but great ideas are out there just waiting for you. The first thing I do before creating an infographic is seeing what has already been done. By doing this, I learn what I do and do not like. Then, I can come back to my work, incorporate ideas I do like, and be sure not to use the ideas I didn’t. Usually, starting by emulating others ideas gets you started, and from there, the good, pure creative ideas will come naturally as you play around with concepts.
Finally, find a program you like and learn it! At the end of the day, if you want to be successful at infographics, you are going to need to use some sort of program. Whether it is an online infographic program or Photoshop or Illustrator, you are going to need to pick one, and once you do, explore. Click buttons, try things, play around. Don’t be afraid to google and youTube how to videos.
The more you explore, the better and more creative your infographics will be. If you are familiar with infographics and out of ideas, try playing with a feature you have never used before or switching to a different type of program to freshen your perspective.
Whatever you do, the key to designing a killer infographic is just getting out there and playing around. The more experience you have and the more you have fun you have doing it, the closer you are to creating awesome infographics.