Keys to Designing a Killer Infographic

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.

10 Step Website Self-Check

What makes a website great? What makes a website terrible? The quality and effectiveness of a website really comes down to ten main elements. All of these ten elements are pretty simple, but due to the wide variety of options in each category, sometime people make websites overly complicated or confusing, or maybe on the other side of things, they make it boring and dull.

Fear no more. We have broken down these ten elements for you a created a 10 Step Self-Check Test for you to use to rate your website. What do you think your score will be.

  • If you have 2 or less elements, your website is an F.
  • If you have 2-5 elements, your website is average and is a C.
  • If you have 5-8 elements, your website is pretty good and receives a B.
  • If you have 9 or 10 elements, your website is fantastic and is an A.

Good luck! Here is our 10 Step Self-Check Test:

  1. Home Page: Your homepage is your front door, your welcome mat, your first impression, and your first impression is one of the most important. It sets the tone. While this may sound silly, think about the way you feel when you open your home page. Does your homepage leave your audience with the right feeling?
  2. Design: The way you set up and design your website will make a big impact on the experience your user has. The most important design element about a website is if it is functional. Can your user find everything they need to find easily? Does the layout make sense for the purpose?
  3. Timeliness: This is simple. Is the website being updated? Look at the last social media post and see if it was in the last week or two. Are you regularly posting new content? At the very least, is all the information correct and up to date.
  4. Searchability: Most people come to websites with a purpose, not just to look around. The search bar needs to be somewhere easy to find so that people can use it. Your menu also must make sense and clearly direct your audience to information through helpful categories or whatever is best for your purpose.
  5. Branding: Does your website stay true to your brand? Is your logo thoroughly incorporated through the website? The easiest thing to forget is to maintain your brand on every section of your website. Your logo should be the same across sections and social media platforms. The colors and theme of your website should go not only with what you are trying to convey, but also you brand.
  6. Credibility: A section of your website need to be devoted to showing that you are a legitimate and serious website. For a company, this would mean including you mission statement, certifications, a portfolio of your work or services, and other additional resources to build credibility. Often people like to showcase their employees and give background on the company’s purpose and founding. All of these benefit the credibility of your site which is an ever increasing problem online.
  7. Headlines: Your headlines are important. They bring your audience into what you are trying to tell them. Whether it is a blog post, a news blurb, or a helpful tip, creative and engaging headlines make the difference between people clicking to read and just passing over it. Do you have thoughtful engaging headlines?
  8. Social Media: In the world we live in, most websites will also have corresponding social media accounts, even if it is just a Facebook page or a LinkedIn account. Optimally, a website will add as many social media accounts as makes sense for them. Whether or not they are incorporated into the website well is usually the problem. What is the point of having them is they don’t work together with you website. Plus, the most important thing is that you add as many as you can keep updated.
  9. Audience: Remember who your target audience is. If you are trying to sell children’s toys, make the website more user friendly for a younger audience. Make it a fun, colorful, exciting experience. If you are a dentist, you may not need as much color and fun, but you will need to appear professional with a clean website that is easy to use.
  10. Overall: At the end of all of this, it is the combination of these nine other areas that leave an overall impression. When your user leaves the website, they will leave with either a good overall feeling of being satisfied or a bad overall feeling. The big question is which does your website give? Does it leave your audience satisfied and do you believe they can find and enjoy finding what they need to on your website?

How To Design A Killer Business Card

Having a small business means you must learn how to function in many roles. You are the owner, the manager, the accountant, and the marketer all in one. When people meet you for the first time, how will they remember you? Making a great first impression is important, but having a killer business card is key. You might think a business card is meaningless in today’s technology-savvy society. However, business cards are a timeless piece of marketing material that actually work. Your business card is not the end-all be-all, but if done effectively it will create a lasting impression on customers that will make them remember you when they need your services. Take a look at our tips for designing a killer business card.

1. There’s two sides for a reason

Nothing looks more unprofessional than a one-sided business card. Sure a two-sided full-color card may cost a bit extra, but it’s worth it to make customers know you didn’t forget to finish the other side of your design. Plus, when you are only working with a 3.5” x 2” space, wouldn’t you want to double that by using both sides of the card? We think YES!

2. Design

Of course the design is important, but did you know your aesthetic choices have actually been proven to make a difference based on human psychology? Spacing, font choice, white space, and colors are all perceived differently in the mind. For example, red displays power, while blue represents peacefulness. Be cautious what customers will interpret about your business based on the design.

3. Content

Just as important as the design of your card is the information on it. Your business card must contain a tagline that quickly explains who you are and what you do. Regardless of your profession or how complicated your job may be, your tagline needs to be a quick, simple explanation of what you do. Your card needs to explain what you do when you first hand it to someone, remind someone who has had the card awhile what you do, or show people who are passed along what you do. All of these functions require a tagline explaining what you do! In addition, you should add basic information about your business. Feel free to include social media icons or links, but be sure to have a nice balance between imagery and text. If you are unsure of what information to put, just stick with the basics: name, website, email address, physical address, and phone number.

These are the basic elements to a great business card. If you need help designing your customized business card, contact us today!