Infographics: Basic guidelines

Key features of an infographic

Infographics combine visuals, data, and text to tell a complex and important story at a glance. They display information visually in a clear, structured and attention grabbing way.  An effective infographic should have:

1. A clear subject and story
2. A unique, attention grabbing title and tagline
3. A clear storyline with a clean and well-structured layout – a layout that supports people browsing the information or jumping to the information that interests them the most
   • Readers should be able to get the immediate over-arching message and then be able to dig deeper into the content/smaller chunks of information
4. An engaging and visually-driven design ensuring the graphic is not too crowded and is eye-catching
5. Text and images and data connect the dots of your story and your story is chunked into sections in a way that makes sense

--Information courtesy of Dr. Robin Cox, Associate Professor, School of Humanitarian Studies, Royal Roads University

1. Story

The storyboard is the foundation of your infographic. It is important for the purposes of this assignment to decide what information you need/want to share about the topic and determine what the main problems/points/challenges are (clear purpose or focus; providing quick access to important ideas/facts) and content (synthesizes and presents key ideas/points regarding topic; appropriate use of facts/figures). This infographic is designed to be educational, but it can also be inspiring. It should allow the viewer/reader to get the key message almost instantly and then support that viewer/reader going deeper into the topic by exploring smaller chunks/sections.

2. Design and style

This criterion includes a number of elements related to the layout, the use of graphics/images and fonts, and optimizing for sharing.

3. Visual appeal

An infographic needs to be visually appealing but, in the case of an educational infographic, it also needs to convey important ideas/complexity. The design should support viewers/readers comprehension of the information through layout, chunking and strategies for hierarchies of importance (e.g., use of headings, colour, size, types of images). Think about how you can support the flow and connections between ideas by using various design elements and how to effectively use white space.

4. Information/Content

Use research, articles/chapters from class or from additional research to support your information. Try to make these as current as possible. Make sure these are reputable (e.g., peer reviewed articles; trusted websites/blogs; government reports; trusted industry leaders). Cite sources appropriately in text (APA format) and use a References section that adheres to APA format.

5. Size and shape

The infographic you produce can be as long as you like, but optimal size is generally between 5000-8000 pixels in length and 735 pixels wide. The latter optimizes for Pinterest. You will need to decide how to optimize your infographic for sharing on various platforms such as your own website, Twitter, Facebook and so on.  Different sizes and formats may work best with different platforms and different platforms may have different requirements.

--Information courtesy of Dr. Robin Cox, Associate Professor, School of Humanitarian Studies, Royal Roads University