Did you know that 65% of people are visual learners? This means that if you want to enrich your content, engage your audience and get them interested in your content; you’ll need to add some visual elements. Infographics can be a great way to present information in a way that is visually appealing and engaging for your audience.
In this article, we’ll discuss what is an infographic and when can you use them. We’ll also explain how to start creating your own one.
What is an infographic?
You’ve seen it everywhere, from classroom workbooks to blog posts to social media content to business proposals. Infographics populate the internet, social media and our lives. So, are you ready to get to know more about them?
Let’s start with the definition, according to techopedia, An information graphic is a visual representation of a data set or instructive material. It takes a large amount of information in text or numerical form and then condenses it into a combination of images and text, allowing viewers to quickly grasp the essential insights the data contains.
Infographics tell a story, they’re filled with facts and figures. All this information leads to shaping a particular opinion about a topic.
But you might be asking yourself: What is the difference between infographic and data visualization?
We’ll explain….
Infographic VS. data visualization: Are they different?
Some people may use both terms interchangeably. Yet it’s important to note, that they are different.
How is that?
The biggest difference between both terms is that infographics guide your audience towards a particular conclusion, while data visualization presents all the information and allows your audience to come to their own conclusions.
Infographics focus on hand-selected information that helps tell a story or guides a user to feel a particular way about a topic.
So, this means that data visualizations can be included in infographics, but infographics can’t be included in data visualizations.
The comparison below better explains the differences:
Infographics:
- Visual representation of facts, events or numbers
- Reflects a pattern and aligns to a story
- Subjective – guides the audience to a particular conclusion
- Used for marketing content, blog posts or case studies
Data Visualization:
- Visual representation of data
- Information is placed in a schematic form to see what the data means
- Objective – users draw their own conclusions from the data set
- Used for reports and editorials
Now that we’ve established the difference between both terms, let’s explore when and why should you use them.
The usage of infographics
As you look more into infographics, you may wonder why are they popular? What is the appeal behind these vertical, visual elements?
Content with visuals gets 94% more views than text-only content.
Infographics are more appealing as they allow your business to educate your audience with important facts and figures by breaking them down. They make it easier to process and digest the information and attract your audience’s attention.
It can help you turn mundane content into a captivating experience. Adding it to your website can have a positive effect on your digital presence and user’s engagement.
A well-designed one can go a long way in terms of shares and exposure for your business. If people like the infographic and find it informative, they can easily share it on social media. This allows others to see it and engage with it too.
When should you use infographics?
Jaime Nacach - Founder of Bloominari, digital marketing agency - gives an answer by explaining the uses for infographics:
- Illustration: To present results gathered from a survey (or similar activities) and making it more interesting than an average chart.
- Simplification: If you need to simplify a complex idea or break it down quickly and easily, infographics are the way to go.
- Comparisons: They help organize similarities and differences.
- Awareness: Whether it's related to business, environment or any cause, infographics can make information more interesting to read and more likely to be shared.
Ask yourself, "Do I want to present my information in a simple and eye-catching method?" then an infographic might be the right choice.
Note: You can check the infographic that we’ve created to introduce the Websites + Marketing tool in this blog post.
How can you make an infographic?
Do you feel like you’re ready to start creating some engaging and informational infographics? This guide is for you.
1. Determine your goals
Before you begin thinking about the design or layout, you need to determine the goals of your infographic.
Why are you making this infographic?
When you’re creating an infographic, you should have a specific problem that it will solve. Moreover, your audience need to gain something from reading it.
Let’s say you’re creating an infographic about startup funding, your goal can be to list all the possible ways to get funds for startups.
Your questions can be:
- What are the authorities/ entities that can help startups with getting funds?
- What are the stages to get startups funded?
- How can someone prepare his startup for fund?
2. Collect the data
You’ll need some data to help you answer the questions you defined in step one.
If you have your own data, then that’s great. You can go ahead and move to the next step.
If not, don’t worry. There’s a ton of data available either on the internet, libraries or surveys and stats. All you need to do is look everywhere and compile the data needed.
3. Visualize the layout and design
Now that you have the data ready, you’ll need to design your infographic. You may feel that putting the data together is daunting, but don’t worry. We’ve got a few hacks to help with that.
- Create a natural flow of information: Use the questions you’ve developed in the first step to guide your layout and information flow.
- Turn the questions into a header: Start by telling your reader what they’ll gain from your infographic, then follow up with the stats and charts that address the questions.
- Use a grid layout: Lay out your elements with a predefined symmetrical grid is an easy tactic that will instantly elevate your infographic.
- Give your elements an order: Keep in mind that we read from left to right and top to bottom. Use this information to direct your reader’s gaze from element to element.
4. Add style to your design
Now comes the fun part, designing your infographic to make sure that it’s aesthetically pleasing and clear.
These are a few things that you need to keep an eye on:
- Fonts
- Colour
- Use of space
Make them with a ready-made templates
If you feel like building an infographic layout from scratch is intimidating, there are several infographic-making software that offer ready-made templates that you can personalize to fit your data. Like:
It’s now easier than ever to create these visuals, the trick is to pick one that works well with your content.
Tips to make your infographic stand out
Finally, use these tips to create some amazing infographics.
- Understand your topic
- Be original
- Know your audience
- Use appealing color combos and design
Be bold
Infographics are still growing and changing, so if you haven’t worked with them before, it’s about time to start. Take your innovative ideas and turn them into something that’ll be remembered.
