Create An Infographic From Scratch: 22 Steps To Follow

Designs follow you everywhere. Some keep you charged while some slow you down. There are pros to being a designer. But, like any other profession, you have to face some wrong side too. Let’s be honest here. You start to do the best, but you come across people who will downplay you. At one point, you become a part of daily grinding. Probably there’s too much on your plate. If this is for conventional designs, think about what goes behind making infographics. Check out these steps on how to create infographic.

How to deal with a ton of information?

If you are churning out many designs, ensuring effectiveness is quite a task. But, there’s a way to tackle big data. An infographic is a visual representation of data. Instead of having a chunk of text that people will skip, you make an easy-to-understand presentation. Visuals are the go-to marketing strategy because the brain captures 80 percent.

It holds online, as well. The audience does well with eye-popping graphics. In the business sphere, you can fetch more traffic to your website by sharing intriguing images on social media. You can communicate your product feature or brand story in a suitable infographic. Your business could grab attention by using infographics.

While everyone is designing infographics, you have to create one that beats the rest. Here are promising steps to develop an infographic from scratch.

How to Create Infographic – Steps to Follow

Process the data

Process your information to convert it into clear and concise infographics. Whether you are on the monitoring or researching side, your paths cross a ton of information. You cannot skim over it. You have to dive in for in-depth knowledge. It’s the building blocks for infographics. The report helps if it’s displayed well.

Proofread

Credibility ensures the quality of research. Ensure the information used in the infographic is believable. An inaccurate piece of information can land you in big trouble. In a data-driven world, you cannot wholly entrust information found on the internet. The data found in mainstream search may be different. Even though there are facts and figures, reliability is still a question. Check the relevancy to present it truthfully.

Create a blueprint

Give a skeleton to your work. It would be best if you made the wireframe before designing. You are clear about the flow of data. The blueprint of the design puts everything in perspective.

Style with purpose

Use a format that gels up with your information. Strike balance analytics and creativity. Infographics come in many forms, such as diagrams, pie charts, flow charts, maps, etc. What type you should go with depends on the objective of the data visualization. Use one that avoids ambiguity and provides readers with actionable insights.

You can also have a look at infographic trends for better ideas.

Tell a story: Every good design has a story

Use storytelling as transport to engage, entertain, and influence customers. Your storyline should have a problem, creates tension, reaches a climax, and ends with a solution. Let the customer receive the message through their lens of interpretation. Your story should dictate the design, not the other way around.

Maintain the tone

Be the voice of your subject matter (brand image). If you have dangerous content, show it in your design. If it’s lighthearted, be lighthearted. Set mood for the readers. Be as you are to be accepted. If you are pretentious, readers will get confused.

Come out of the box

These are an overwhelming supply of infographics in the market. You’ll find both outstanding and the run-of-the-mill. With an increase in amount, the need to get noticed is a real challenge. If you have out-of-the-world information, don’t get it wasted. Let go of the things holding you back. Utilize illustrations, charts, icons, and graphics to arouse visual interest.

Create breathing space

Instead of thinking about what to let out to create space. White space highlights essential points in the infographic. You can use this to create urgency or call to action in your business. Don’t crowd your infographic with elements. Help each item communicate effectively.

Coat with the right colors

In the age of the internet, you can easily find infographics online. But the problem is how to set yourself apart? Select colors that are device-friendly. Avoid colors such as neon to strain your eyes. Choose shades that complement each other and reinforce your brand story. If you share your infographic on social media, be sure of the white backgrounds. Fix your color palette before designing. Sticking minimalism is a good rule. If you need more, apply shades and tints of the ones you’re using.

Consider typography

Selecting the fonts is no picnic. It can be a mystifying process if you are starting new. Finding the right ones out of the pool of fonts is subjective. Your fonts requirement varies from your competitors because of your taste. Here are nine tips to help you get started –

Learn the basic

Typography deals with the composition of letters and text to make the copy legible, clear, and visually appealing. It involves font style, appearance, and structure, which aims to evoke emotions and tells a story. Having a grip on basics can make the process of handling massive data easier.

Font psychology

In the virtual world, customers take two-tenths of a second to form an opinion. To catch them in one go, you need the right fonts. Font psychology drives your design decisions. You get a ton of control over how customers react to your design. Fonts have roughly five categories: serif, sans-serif, slab serif, script and modern. Use them to reveal your brand identity.

So, how do you focus on the font type?

Serif typeface

This typeface signifies authority, tradition, respect, and grandeur. Commonly used serif fonts are Times New Roman, Bodini, Georgia, Garamond, and Baskerville. You can see fonts in famous logos such as Time Magazine, Gap, Yale, and The New York Times.

Sans serif typeface

Use when you want to emphasize specific words or texts. It’s clean, modern, objective, stable, and universal. Fonts under this typeface are Helvetica, Verdana, Arial, Century Gothic, and Calibri. A simplified example includes Microsoft and Nike.

Slab serif/display typeface

You use them to attract attention. It can be seen in billboards to capture customers from a distance. Brands often use Rockwell, Courier, Museo, Clarendon, and Bevan. The well-known brands are Honda and Sony.

Script

This font type is feminine, elegant, friendly, intriguing, creative. You can see in greeting cards or any other creative collaterals. Popular fonts are Lobster, Zapfino, Pacifico, Lucida, and Brush Script. Brands such as Coca-Cola, Cadbury, and Instagram use script.

Modern

These types of fonts are exclusive, fashionable, stylish, sharp, and intelligent. You use it to grab the attention of the millennials. Popular modern fonts are Infinity, Eurostyle, Marjoram, Matchbook, and Politica. Brands that follow this font type are Facebook and Shutterfly.

Learn kerning

Before kerning, fix the leading and tracking. Leading is vertical space between lines, whereas tracking creates uniformity between all letters. Kerning comes as the last thing in the order of consideration. It only caters to spacing, and hence it’s the final consideration. You fine-tune to produce a streamlined infographic.

Limit your fonts

The way you give a consistent look to your infographic is by limiting the number of fonts. If you want more than one, you can restrict to two or three. Too many fonts confuse customers. Pick one font and size for heading and another font for sub-heads.

Practice alignment

After aligning the elements in your infographic (title boxes, text frames, graphics, icons, etc.), your visual will look well – arranged and appealing. Customers naturally scan the information when it’s well-organized. Aligned infographic leads the prospects to take action.

Follow the visual hierarchy

You give your customers the order of importance by creating powerful points. It helps the viewers navigate through your infographic. Visual hierarchy makes complex data simple.

Follow the rule of thirds

If you are struggling with element placements, here’s a thing. Use grids to lay equal stress on each element. The rule of thirds divides the work area into three equal parts vertically and horizontally. Use it as a roadmap for composition.

Avoid distraction

You have valuable information. How can you let your customers see it without losing interest? Practice smart pairing. If you are using too many fonts and colors, you’re at risk of losing readers.

Use white space

There’s nothing terrible about white space. It’s a breathing room for the information. With white space, you emphasize each element. The more the white space, the less the customers feel overwhelmed.

Avoid too much information

The balance between quantity and quality. Information overload is draining. Avoid unwanted information. Try to simplify it into six main points or more if possible.

Run a trial test

Before letting it out, ask your team to review it. It’s a great way to get approval and feedback. In ever-changing marketing, these help you as a designer to grow. Always create room for improvement.

Revamp

If you find loops, rework your infographic. Please give it a fresh look. If you are a startup and you cannot afford the cost of running expensive ads, revamp helps you to stay with the times.

Now, show the world what information you’ve got. Nothing can stop you from starting from scratch. It may seem small at first, but it’s a big move.

Get more ideas and inspirations with All Time Design Works