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SHOW, DON'T TELL. That's the general idea of infographics, which use visuals to make numbers/stats/processes easier to understand. While it's easy to enjoy a well crafted infographic, creating one can be challenging. What type of visual fits your data? How should you style your graphic? What tools can you use to create infographics without starting from scratch?

Making an infographic is a multistep process, so we'll break this tutorial into two parts. In this lesson, we'll walk you through the basics of making your own infographic, depending on the data at hand.

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BACKGROUND: Types of Infographics

Definition: An infographic is a design or image that presents data in a way that enhances meaning and instant understanding of facts/data.

Once you've identified the data that you want to visualize, the next step is to try out different ways to pick out what type of graph, chart, diagram or icon best shows off the significance of the information. While this may seem intimidating, keep in mind there isn't just one"right" way of turning your information into something visual. However, there are some best practices that can help you figure out where to start.

In this Youth Radio handout, we've put together a list of some of the most common types of data visualizations along with some tips on when and how to use them.
HANDOUT: A few Common Types of Data Visualizations
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ACTIVITY: Finding the best visual for your data

Objective: Students will develop their critical thinking skills related to data visualization, including how to determine which types of graphs fit the data.

Grade: 7th or higher

Video/audio player

Graph paper/pencil OR graphing calculator OR computer with access to the Internet

Handouts (see below)

Instructions:

STEP 1: Introduction (1 minute): Introduce the concept that numbers tell a story. Data gives us a sense of the scale, relevance, and importance of a story.
"The Understsaffing of Juvenile Hall" (Youth Radio/NPR) - AUDIO
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STEP 2: Background/Story (5 minutes): Have your students listen to the Youth Radio story " The Understaffing of Juvenile Hall." This story will provide context for the data set we will use for the activity.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.youthradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/2100763_YR_JuvenileHall_BrettMyers_MIX.mp3

This story is part of Youth Radio's NPR series, "Unlocked," a three-part investigation into alternatives to juvenile incarceration - both model programs and cases that raise serious concerns. Building on four months of reporting, Youth Radio takes listeners inside the juvenile justice system, revealing how the move away from juvenile incarceration doesn't always play out the way reformers intended. For this story, Youth Radio producers and reporters worked together to gather data from Alameda County about conditions within its Juvenile Hall.

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STEP 3: Interactive Video (3 minutes): Let your students know that they will be using the data that Youth Radio collected from Alameda County to practice creating a basic infographic. First, they will watch a short video about how Youth Radio teen reporter Soraya Shockley worked with producer Teresa Chin to turn the data into something visual.

STEP 4 (5-10 minutes): Ask your students which type of graph they think they would use

Consider the data set mentioned in the video:

Average Daily Population of Alameda County's Juvenile Hall

Ask your students to vote on which of the following types of graphs would they think would best match the data. Why?

*TIP* Consider having students read the Youth Radio HANDOUT: A few Common Types of Data Visualizations

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STEP 5: Graphing Practice (10-15 minutes): Have your students use Create-A-Graph, excel, graph paper, or another graph generator to create a bar graph, pie chart, and line graph using the Average Daily Population data.
- STEP 6: Discuss each the three types of graphs (10 minutes)
If you use Create-A-Graph, your graphs will look something like this:

Look at each graph. On first glance, how would you interpret each graph?

Which one is the most clear to you? Why?

If the average daily population of juvenile hall is going down, how would you expect that to affect conditions? Why?

How might you measure this assumption? What data might you ask for?

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STEP 7: Watch Part 2 of the video to find out the answer (1 minute)! This doesn't mean it's the ONLY right way to visualize this data, only that it was Youth Radio's choice for the story.

Here is the final version of the infographic that we created for Unlocked:

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STEP 8: Additional Practice (10-15 minutes): To give your students extra opportunities to practice in class or as homework, have them consider this additional data that Youth Radio gathered for its juvenile justice story.

(a) Using the above data that Youth Radio got from Alameda County, have your students create mathematically accurate visuals. Use Create-A-Graph, excel, graph paper, a graphing calculator, or another graph generator. Tell them they can choose to make make several graphs (per category) or you can combine the stats to make one big graphic.
Discussion Questions:
(b) Look at these two bar graphs generated using the data above.

Look at each graph. On first glance, how would you interpret each graph?

Which one is the most clear to you? Why?

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

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A FEW AWESOME & INTERACTIVE INFOGRAPHICS:

Ever wonder which rappers have the biggest flow vocabulary? This interactive infographic charts the word choices of your favorite artists.

Game of Thrones fans rejoiced when the Washington Post put together a flow chart of all 456 deaths in the popular HBO fantasy series.

Ever aspire to be a professional athlete? Well the odds aren't always in your favor. Check out this interactive infographic by Ryan Sleeper.

Get an interactive tour of the complete history of social media, with help from a fuzzy, blue, animated yeti.

Cute graphics and an interactive timeline make this history of the game console an interesting infographic.

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Stay tuned for Part 2 of Youth Radio's Infographic Curriculum, where we learn how to stylize your infographic using basic design principles.

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DIY: How To Make An Infographic - YR Media

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SHOW, DON'T TELL . That's the general idea of infographics, which use visuals to make numbers/stats/processes easier to understand. While it's easy to enjoy a well crafted infographic, creating one can be challenging. What type of visual fits your data? How should you style your graphic?

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So you want to become an infographic design expert? You've come to the right place.

Here are 13 essential infographic design tips (click to jump ahead):

1. Planning your infographic design

2. Write a compelling title

3. Use a grid design or wireframe for your infographic design

4. Use the right infographic layout for your data (scroll down for a video guide)

5. Follow data visualization best practices

6. Incorporate different infographic design elements

7. Use photography in your infographic design

8. Use contrast in your infographic design

9. Create symmetrical and asymmetrical balance

10. Use color effectively

11. Make sure there's consistency in your infographic design

12. Leave plenty of negative space in your infographic design

13. Practice, practice, practice

People have been going nuts about infographics since the infographic design boom of 2012. No, really, that was a thing. Between 2010 and 2012, searches for infographics increased by a whopping 80%.

Since then, infographics and infographic design have become a standard visual used in content across niches.
That's because infographics can communicate information in a condensed and highly visual way-when designed well. Here's one example:
The problem is that for every well-made infographic published, there are a handful of poorly produced infographic designs circling the web.

Poorly designed infographics can skew and obscure information, rather than make it easier to understand.
Creating a beautiful and effective infographic design isn't hard, it just takes a basic understanding of infographic design best practices.
Of course, it helps if you use an infographic template to give you a head start, like this one:

Just so you know, some of our infographic templates are free to use and some require a small monthly fee. Sign up is always free, as is access to Venngage's online drag and drop editor.

NEW! Launching: The Authoritative Guide to Designing Infographics

Anyone can create professional infographics with this comprehensive and accessible guide. It's packed with insights, best practices, examples, checklists and more-everything you need to make infographics that stand out above the cut.

Learn how to design professional infographics that help you reach your communication and business goals. Check out the book here:

In the meantime, you can read on that check out this crash course to effective infographic design. Let's get started.

Related: 7 Tips on How to Make a Good Infographic

1. Plan your infographic design

Our video on how to plan and create the perfect infographic is a great primer for those new to infographic design:

Keep reading for more tips...

Find a story

In every set of data there's a story. Before you begin designing your infographic, think of the story you are trying to tell. The angle you choose will help you determine which information to include.

For example, this infographic design tells the story of completing a project from start to finish:

Because infographics allow for limited space for content, the purpose of your infographic should be focused. That's why the layout of your infographic should not only reflect the theme of your information, but also enhance the communication of it.

For example, the infographic template below uses numbered boxes and arrows to keep the reader's eye moving in the right direction:

This process infographic uses a line to connect its steps:

Read our blog post on process infographic templates and design tips for more info.

Create an infographic outline

Before diving into your design, create an infographic outline. In your outline, include your headers, data, and any design details you don't want to forget.
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2. Write a compelling title

Come up with a title that is catchy and descriptive. Readers should get a sense of what the information will be, to engage them and make them want to read further.

This title of this infographic has TWO numbers, which copywriting guru Brian Dean recommends using to make your headlines more compelling and specific:

This infographic design makes use of a big, bold headline and specific subheader that tells readers exactly what information they're going to get:
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3. Use a grid design or wireframe for your infographic design

Grids and wireframes are the structural base to any design. Designing on a grid allows you to easily organize elements and information. Grid designs also play an essential role in keeping objects and elements aligned.

For example, when aligning items, you can reference the same vertical grid line and then space each list item accordingly.

The below example shows how color palettes are aligned on a graphic design grid. The Venngage editor also has the option of using "smart guides" which help align items for you automatically, without using a grid design tool:

Here's the original template, before customization:

For your infographic design, use a grid design system to create margins. It's good practice to keep enough space in between your elements and the edge of your canvas to avoid visual tension.

An infographic design can potentially have any size of margin you desire but it's important to keep the margin consistent all the way along the edge of your canvas.

A good rule of thumb is to keep all objects and elements at least 20px (one square on the grid) away from the edge of the canvas.
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4. Use the right infographic layout for your data

Pick the best infographic layout for your data. There are hundreds of possible infographic templates out there to choose from.
This quick video guide will help you pick the best type of infographic layout for your data:
For example, you could use a one column layout for a minimal infographic, or create a list infographic by spitting the layout into two columns, like in these examples:

Here's an example of a two-column infographic design:

You can read a more in-depth article on selecting the right infographic template for your data in our blog post on How To Make an Infographic in 5 Steps.
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5. Follow data visualization best practices

Pro tip: always start your infographic planning with pen and paper. This way, you can work through concepts and designs roughly before finalizing a digital copy.

Choose the best chart types for your data

The type of data you are trying to convey will determine which chart type is the best for your data. To decide which type of chart would best convey your data, you first have to determine what kind of data you want to present: a single important number? A comparison between data points? A trend over time? An outlier?

The types of charts most commonly used in infographics are pie chart, bar graphs, column graphs, and line charts. For example, a column graph is one of the easiest ways to compare data.

And to convey a trend over time, the most common type of chart to use is a line chart.

But if you think of a more unusual chart that would convey the data effectively, don't be afraid to get more creative. For example, you can identify and show the trends such as sales over time, correlations such as sales compared temperature or outliers such as sales in an unusual area.

A good rule of thumb is that your charts should be easy enough to read that it only takes readers ten second or less to understand. You can read a more in-depth article on choosing the right chart type here.
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6. Incorporate different infographic design elements

Typography

Typography is a very important element for infographic design and your one way to explain your ideas and information when images, graphs or icons can't. That's why it's important to choose the best fonts for your data.

That being said, try to limit the amount of text you include on your infographic. The best infographics have visual impact, with the text acting as a secondary explanation for the visual content.

This infographic design relies on icons, dates and headers, with minimal explanatory text:

First and foremost, make sure your type is legible. In most cases, avoid decorative or script type as it tends to be hard to read.

To keep infographic designs cohesive, limit your use of fonts to a maximum of three types, but also don't stick with just one. A tasteful use of two brand fonts can create a nice dynamic and hierarchy of information.

This infographic design uses one font for the headers and one for the body copy:

Alternatively, a number or statistic in one font type next subtext in another creates a hierarchy of information:
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7. Use photography in your infographic design

The use of photography can be tricky if there is not a photographer available to take the shots of exactly what you need.

There are ways to work around not having a photographer at hire by incorporating stock photos that are royalty free from places like Pixabay, Unsplash or Pikwizard. The only risk is that using stock images can look uncreative and, frankly, cheesy. That's why you need to take care when deciding which images to use.

Be sure that the photos you use have a consistent style and lighting. Try to pick photos with the same lighting effects, same backdrops, same amount of dark areas, etc. It's important to stick to a certain style as images that clearly don't fit the set will distract from the information being communicated.

If you're going for a simple modern use of photography, use only images with flat colour (or white) backdrops. If you're going for a neutral newspaper approach, use only black and white images.

Photos that take up a majority of space in your infographic, which can distract from information. This issue can be solved by using a cropping such as circle frames.
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8. Use contrast in your infographic design

Contrast creates visual impact by placing two strikingly different elements beside each other. If an infographic has a light background with bold colored shapes, our eyes are immediately attracted to the bold colors. This allows you to organize information by having a certain element more prominent than another.

Contrast using colors

Color selection can have a big impact on your infographic design.

Try pairing complementary colors to make your headline pop. One of my favourite combinations is a darker blue with a brighter color like orange which makes your headline stand out.

Contrast using typography sizes

A header is usually the largest text on an infographic, followed by the subheader and then the body copy. The header should pretty much always be the largest point size so that the viewer knows the subject of your infographic right off the bat.

Contrasting visuals

Use a tinted image contrasted with a chart overtop to add context.
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9. Create symmetrical and asymmetrical balance

An infographic with visual balance is pleasing to the eyes because everything fits together seamlessly. A balanced infographic keeps the entire composition cohesive, especially in a long form infographic.

If there are heavy visuals on the top of an infographic, you should keep the flow going right to the bottom. There are two types of balance: symmetrical and asymmetrical.

Symmetrical balance is when each side of the composition has equal weight. This layout is effective in a comparison infographic like this one:

Asymmetrical balance is more natural and less uniform than a symmetrical composition. It creates a more complex relationship between objects. It can make an infographic more dynamic since the composition is not repeated excessively.

For example, if you are creating timeline infographics, alternate text between both sides of the timeline for a balanced composition.

Check out these creative timeline templates.
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10. Use color effectively

Decide on a color scheme before creating your infographic. A good rule of thumb is to design your infographic with two or three main colors, and to use minor color accents.

When choosing your color scheme, decide on the tone of your infographic. Is it a business infographic? If so, try using neutral colors like blue or green, or, of course, your brand colors, especially if you're including your logo.

For fun, eye popping infographics, use brighter hues, but be careful not to use large amounts dark or neon colors as they can be straining to the eyes when viewed on the web.

Color can also be used as a sectional tool. Add blocks of color to section your infographic, giving the eye some breathing room as viewers scroll down.

Here are a couple of helpful tools on the web to help you choose a color palette:
Adobe Color CC
11. Make sure there's consistency in your infographic design

In order for your infographic design to flow from start to finish, the design elements need to be consistent. If you are using icons that are filled in, rather than line art icons, then keep using the same style throughout the entire infographic.

The same goes for the style of images you use, the font style, and the color palette. This will prevent your infographic from looking cluttered, and will actually make it easier to read.

Confused about how to use icons properly in your infographic? Our video will teach you in under 3 minutes:

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12. Leave plenty of negative space in your infographic design

Negative space is the blank space surrounding objects in a design.

Negative space has a big impact on your design. If your infographic design is too crowded, it can overwhelm readers and make it difficult to read the information.

Creating space around the elements in your design allows readers the breathing room to process the information. Pro tip: if you are using a 16pt size, the line height should be no less than 1.2.

Leaving negative space can be as simple as making sure there is enough space between lines of text. Just look at the difference that a little space makes in the example below:

13. Practice, practice, practice

This is going to sound cliché, but when it comes designing infographics, it will probably take your a couple of goes at it to get the hang of it. You will need to figure out what works in a design and what doesn't.

Luckily, this learning process is made a lot easier by infographic templates and guide. And there are certainly a lot of examples out there for you to draw inspiration from.

When in doubt, ask someone else to look over your design before you publish it--they will be able to tell you if there is any information that is unclear, or if there is any way that you could make your design even better.
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Read our step-by-step guide to creating infographics:

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Ultimate Infographic Design Guide + Design Tricks - Venngage

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So you want to become an infographic design expert? You've come to the right place.

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If there's one thing I love to do on a computer, it's to play around with new software. Whenever I download something new, I like to go in and push all the buttons and flip all the switches and mess with every single setting.

As much fun as it is to see how many fonts I can use in my new text editor, I often lose sight of why I downloaded the app in the first place. I get caught up in the new and the shiny, and I don't ever start actually working towards my goals.

It's easy to do something similar in Piktochart. We've got so many features and tools and adornments (don't get me started on all those text frames!) that it's easy to forget why you've started designing your infographic in the first place. We know how it is. It happens to us, too.

To help you stay focused on getting from where you are to where you want to be, we've put together a quick list of the things you need to do before you land on the Piktochart dashboard. Follow these steps and set yourself up for success before you even start designing your infographic.

Step 1: Evaluate Your Idea

It all starts with an idea. Infographics work best if you have a strong, clear idea of your message before you go any further. I can't tell you how many times I've started to design an infographic only to realize 30 minutes later that what I needed to say could've been summed up in a tweet or super short Medium post. You need to evaluate your idea for its strengths (and possible weaknesses) before you go any further.

Ask yourself these questions before you move on:

Who is my audience for this message?

What types of messages do they typically respond to? Catchy and clever? More cut and dry?

Is this something that needs to be explained?

Likewise, is this something that is best explained with words and pictures? Would a different format like a long-form blog post or a quick video be more effective?

If you allow yourself to be critical of your idea and you can evaluate it for its merits, you'll be more successful in the long term.

Step 2: Do Your Research

It's not enough to have an idea. No idea is complete without valid and reliable information to support it, and the way to get that information is to do your research. Research is a critical step in learning how to make an infographic.

Including dependable sources of information like articles, case studies, and reference documents adds credibility to you and to your infographic. In addition, if you gather more data, you have more opportunities to create charts and graphs.

Try searching these databases for topics and information related to your idea. You could also use a tool like Google Books or Google Scholar for quotations and citations. If you decide to go a less formal route and cite media outlets like the New York Times, the BBC, or the Associated Press, check the date the story was published to ensure that the information is up-to-date. While you're at it, check the URL to make sure your story isn't from a fake news site that's trying to fool you be being styled like one of the more official outlets.

When doing your research, don't forget to run a good old-fashioned Google search to see what's already out there. Check whether there are any published infographics on your topic already and ask yourself: am I bringing anything new to the table? It's all about finding a unique angle that will make your infographic stand out from the crowd, but mostly importantly, the one that will answer questions that haven't been fully answered before.

Step 3: Create an Outline

You have a central idea, and you have the research to support it. Now it's time to separate, order, and organize your information. It's time to create an outline.

Much like a well-written book or a blog post, a good infographic has a structure and a flow that helps the reader follow along. If you take the time to draft an outline on paper (on using a mind-mapping tool like XMind or MindNode), you'll spend less time wondering and wandering once you're in the Piktochart editor.

Start with your main idea, then break it down into parts. You don't have to get too granular, but you'll want to highlight at least 2-3 larger portions of your main idea. This will make both drawing your rough draft (our next step) and picking an infographic template easier.

Remember: the goal here is to get you from idea to creation as efficiently as possible. If you can streamline the design process before you start, you'll have fewer opportunities to get distracted or overwhelmed.

Step 4: Draw a Rough Draft

Now you get to exercise that creative muscle you haven't had a chance to use since your high school art class. The next step is to draw a rough draft.

I have two reasons why I recommend drawing a rough draft on paper instead of jumping directly into Piktochart. First, sketching on paper allows your brain to take advantage of the translation of ideas to shapes. Sketching has many benefits: it increases your memory; it allows for the flexibility when structuring your thoughts; and it's great for serendipity, those A-HA! moments when you have a great idea for something to add or change.

Second, translating your outline to paper gives it a more tangible structure. This helps when you get to the last step of our process (spoiler alert!), deciding on a infographic template type. If you know that your information lends itself more to a comparison layout instead of a timeline, that makes selecting from our collection of more than 500 templates less intimidating.

Consider using one piece of paper for each infographic block you'll be designing or simply use a big sized paper that can fit your entire drawing. Think about what message needs to be conveyed on each of the blocks and which elements you think you'll need: will it be a photo or an icon? How can I best showcase this statistic?

Step 5: Gather Your Assets

To this point, most of the work you've been doing has been focused on words and numbers. But that's not why you decided to create an infographic, is it? After all, the word "infographic" is more than 70% "graphics"! At this point in the process, you'll need to gather your assets.

This part of the process is about getting together all of the supplemental "stuff" you'll want in your infographic: data for your charts and graphs; copy, icons, images, photos and other visuals; and your logo (if you have one) all fall into this category.

The easiest way to gather these resources is to place them all on your Desktop or in another commonly accessed folder (in Google Drive for instance). We're streamlining here, so the fewer steps it takes to find and use these images, the better off you are. You'll likely want to upload the visuals and import your chart data into Piktochart after we finish the next step.

In this step, make sure your copy is ready. Think captions, headers and captivating call-to-actions versus long paragraphs of text. Make sure your copy is well-written and proofread. Ask a colleague or a friend who is detail-oriented and run your copy through them. Second pair of eyes is always needed!

Step 6: Pick Your Template Type

You've made it to the last step. If you've resisted the temptation to start designing up to now, this final stage of the process should be all but done for you already. Now is when you get to pick your template type.

There are eight main categories of infographic layouts and templates. We've talked about them before. With the information you've gathered through research and the ideas you've generated from outlining and drafting, this part should be a no-brainer. Take a look at what you've got, pick a template type, and search for it from the new Piktochart dashboard. Choose one that looks good to you and customize it to fit your needs.

I understand the desire to jump right into the awesome and see what you can create. But I promise that if you follow these steps and do the work before you start designing your infographic, the process will be less daunting and more enjoyable.

Here is the cheatsheet again. Feel free to memorize, print or share it!

Do you have a process that you follow before you start designing your infographic? Did I forget anything? Let me know down in the comments!

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6 Things To Do Before You Start Designing Your Infographic | Piktochart

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If there's one thing I love to do on a computer, it's to play around with new software. Whenever I download something new, I like to go in and push all the buttons and flip all the switches and mess with every single setting.