Todd Sumamno
To make infographics, identify your target audience & platform, choose a niche, collect data on it, and then choose the right tone and design for it.
Infographics help in creating a captivating and engaging presentation to help the audience better understand the concepts you are presenting. There are many tips and tricks that can help you make good infographic content. In this article, we list the top nine tips on creating effective infographics.
Infographics are visual representations of data. Images and charts are used along with minimal sentences to represent data and information. Infographics are used to describe the ideas and data which are harder to grasp by large text. Infographics make the large texts short, attractive, precise, and easy to remember.
Infographics should maintain the right balance between the content and the information provided. The tips below will help you make better infographic content.
1. Be Mindful Of The Audience & Platform
Some platforms require a specific style of content. For example, the audience on Instagram will prefer a different type of infographic than those on Facebook. The content for Pinterest cannot be similar to that of Instagram. So always make platform-specific infographics.
Audience type is also essential. The academic audience might prefer data-based and topic-oriented infographics. A leisurely audience might prefer casual, informative infographics with attractive vector clip art.
If you don’t know who your audience is, then it is better to research the brand messaging. This way, you can decide what type of message you want to send precisely.
2. Set Appropriate Goals
Every content has some goals. It may be in terms of audience or purpose. You may want to attract the attention of a certain audience.
You may also have a certain purpose to achieve. The purpose may be to educate, engage, or simply to inform the audience.
It is better to identify the goals you want to achieve. Identifying the goals will enable you to create an engaging piece of infographic content. You can also keep the infographic to the point if you have the goals sorted first.
3. Choose A Particular Topic
Here choosing a topic means a specific topic that will be the main theme of your infographic. Your topic can even be about the latest business or eCommerce trends.
An infographic may only have a single topic, or it may have multiple points to talk about. You should decide on the main point that the whole thing will be based on.
If there are different subsections, then organize them properly. Infographics should be easy to comprehend. So you should take care that you maintain an easy flow of information.
The main topic that you choose should be concise. Vague overarching topics don’t sit well with infographic viewers because the audience might lose focus halfway through the presentation.
4. Arrange The Data & Information
You should gather relevant data to use in your infographic. Too little or too much data for a single infographic will create confusion. It will fail to meet the goals if you don’t put in the right amount of data.
Infographics should relay the data and information to the audience smoothly. The audience should not feel encumbered by the data. There should not be feelings of a dearth of information as well.
The type of content will direct you in gathering the data. If the infographic is a part of an article, then you can summarize only the article in it. If it is the main piece, then you should add data after doing some research.
5. Cite The Data Properly
An infographic is like any other piece of literature, but with visual cues. As with any valid piece of literature, your infographic will have a higher validity if it is cited properly.
The significance of citation is immeasurable. A properly cited infographic will mean that the piece is properly researched. A citation will also add credibility. The audience will feel at ease about relying on the data.
Citations also allow the audience to check the topic themselves. Additional research can be done by others on the topic through citations. Faulty information and data can also be omitted by inserting citations.
6. Create A Visual Outline
The infographic will fare better if you visualize it in your mind first. Then comes data and text separation. There are two types of data that can be put in an infographic. These are textual data and numerical ones.
Textual data can be put in boxes or as dialogues in small points. The numerical data should be put in a flowchart, graphs, charts, widgets, time charts, etc. if you visualize the data separately, you will have an easier time arranging them. It will also be easier to make the infographic look attractive.
7. Set A Tone For The Infographic
The tone of an infographic means the nature of the language used. You can choose to use a friendly tone or an official tone depending on the content.
The selection of tone will depend on your goals. If you want to engage the public in general, a friendly tone would be good. If the infographic is for academics or for a business, then an official tone would be better.
8. Prepare A Copy
The copy for an infographic differs from a general write up. The information is inserted in sections in any infographic. So the copy will look like an outline rather than a write-up of a paragraph.
The outline should be elaborate and include all the ideas you plan to put in. It will be easier to prepare the end product this way.
9. Prepare A Sketch
An infographic is a visual representation of data. So it is natural for it to be fancy with images and other visual cues. It can be easy to get carried away with the templates. You may also find it hard to select templates at hand.
If you prepare a rough sketch of the infographic, you can be precise when making it later.
10. Choose An Attractive Design
There are many templates available on the internet. These templates are what will make up your infographic design. You can also select blank canvas as the design base, but it is tougher than templates to work with.
You can insert texts, images, icons, video, audio, etc., in the templates. There are guides available on the internet where you can learn more about designing infographics.
Final Thoughts
You have to be super creative to make visually appealing infographics. But with the help of these tips, you will be able to better structure your infographics and cater to your audience’s needs.
