Tips for infographic design inspiration

Infographic Design Inspiration

Answer honestly, who likes the idea of reading facts and figures? I’m going to make a guess and say you answered ‘not me!’.

There’s no denying the importance of an organisations need to report and inform. But, why not think more creatively about the way this information is presented to the outside world? Infographic design reaches the parts other, more verbose, methods of communication simply cannot reach. For many organisations, infographics are the way forward, and it’s not just because they’re more visual appealing than reams of text, as we’re about to discover…

Firstly, infographics make it easy to pick up and remember key information. Good infographic design enables us to quickly decipher between what does and doesn’t interest us. By keeping the readers’ attention on the important facts, infographics present information more efficiently and effectively. We prefer not to read content in its entirety, but extract the maximum amount of helpful information in a short period of time. Experienced infographic designers know how to achieve this successfully. It culminates in the see vs read visual way of thinking. On the whole, humans assimilate information better through pictures and visual elements when compared to heavy text content. That’s why our teachers got us to create all those spider diagrams!

Infographic design has a greater capacity to go viral. Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms now revolve around images. Individual users and companies use pictures to stand out from the vast queue of other content and users. Infographic designers can offer specific insight into what does and doesn’t work for different platforms. For example, Facebook has tight restrictions on copy vs image content for boosted posts.

Good infographic designers can be invaluable when it comes to turning your vital statistics into something that will turn heads. But, what infographic design inspiration do we need to remember when attempting these creatively challenging and technically demanding graphics?

Here are 10 infographic design inspiration tips to assist…

1. Premium data

The back bone to any infographic design is the information you start with. This might sound like I’m stating the obvious, but stay with me. Without interesting, reliable data, you’re never going to achieve the pinnacle of infographic design and inspire your creative team to go beyond the brief. As with anything in life, do the ground work and bear in mind that infographic designers aren’t miracle workers. If you supply unappealing and questionable data, this can often be reflected in the aesthetics of your final infographic design.

2. Focus

Targeting what data to include within your infographic design will ensure your target audience is engaged. It might seem appealing to include as much information as possible, you may be proud of the achievements and stats, but hold off. It’s about selecting a theme you know the audience is interested in. This will make your infographic design even better received and more likely to spread virally. Being focused from the outset is one of our top tips for infographic design.

3. Simplicity

Remember, there is a fine line between enough and too much. Be careful not to over-clutter your infographic design with information overload. Professional infographic designers will organise data in an aesthetically pleasing and logical way, and avoid the common pitfalls that can make a potentially extraordinary infographic design ordinary. If your colleagues take a single look at your new infographic design and look puzzled (or worse) it’s probably time to call in the professionals!

4. Size

Sorry to be the one who tells you this, but size really does matter. Effective infographic designs strike the right balance between being content rich and informative, and concise. Limit yourself to highlighting only the best and most relevant data, and you’ll avoid turning your prize infographic design into an encyclopaedic mess. On the other hand, make sure your audience isn’t left wanting and feeling shortchanged.

5. Individuality

It’s always important to stand out from the crowd, and infographic design is no different. By applying conceptual thinking, professional infographic designers can pull your information into the spotlight, pushing other content into the chorus line. The last thing any organisation wants to end up with is an infographic design that’s uninspiring, flat and unoriginal. Uniquely branding and visualising your data, will add value and longevity to your infographic design.

6. Classy

Bragging never makes a good impression, and an infographic design shouldn’t make this mistake either. Self-promotion is something all companies should strive for, but the best infographic designs generally tend to lean toward the under – rather than over – stated. It’s important to remember this before swamping your infographic design with company products and services (unless of course that’s what you’re infographic is portraying). Remember the point about remaining focused, and concentrating on the quality of content. This will avoid your information-piece from becoming an advertising-piece, ensuring it remains ‘share’ friendly.

7. Identifiable

Remember, we must stay classy, but… incorporating some kind of company branding within your infographic design is crucially important. This doesn’t necessarily mean slapping your logo wherever it fits, that would appear crude. Less is more here. The overall ‘look & feel’ of your infographic design should be identifiably yours, as well as original and engaging. Things that you might consider include your company logo, corporate colour scheme, tone of voice, fonts, typography, layout and graphic styles. This is something tailor-made for your organisation, so don’t be shy in branding your infographic design. Just take care to get the balance right because the primary function of your infographic is to deliver information. By following these tips for infographic design, you’re sure to get a kickback in the advertising and self-promotion stakes.

8. Specific

Every infographic design should have a specific goal and you should be upfront about this, without explaining it in in detail. The goal will vary, depending on the overall focus of your information, and the input of your infographic designers. For example, one infographic design might focus on ‘dunkable’ biscuits – http://www.greenhatdesign.co.uk/biscuit-anyone/. While another focuses on the battle of the Bonds from the http://www.gbshowplates.co.uk/battle-of-the-bonds-infographic/. These aren’t just great examples of infographic design, they also provide the audience with very specific information. After working your way through either infographic, you will know the optimum time after which to remove a Bourbon from your mug of tea, or the units of alcohol consumed within all 23 bond films. But set specific goals and achieve them clearly and creatively.

9. Validity

If your infographic designs contain stats, they need to be cited to ensure your audience knows the information is valid. Of course, if this is your own information or your own research, great! If not, it is even more important to cite your sources. There are two ways of doing this, and your infographic designers will know which is most suitable given the data and information you’re providing. The sources can either be contained within the infographic design itself, or as an addition by way of accompanying text, possibly with links to outbound web pages. It’s important to remember if a key objective for your infographic design is to get as many social shares and likes as possible. In which case you’ll want the sources to stay with it.

10. Promotion

After you’ve spent so much time and effort creating such an awesome infographic design, promote it! And don’t stop promoting it after the first hurdle, as this can be a long-term process. Create press releases, blog posts, website links and social media posts. Also, contact trade journals and online forums to see if they will feature your infographic design in return for a backlink to your website. Remember, unless your information is especially time sensitive, you can update your infographic design so that it always remains relevant and up-to-date. The aim is to get maximum value in return for your time and effort by getting it in front of as many people as possible, which will lead to more shares, likes and mentions. All that’s needed is 1 share on Facebook to ensure your awesome infographic design is reaching a further 500 friends, and just two of those friends to reach 1,500 people. You can see how this grows, and soon enough your infographic design will be on its way to becoming truly viral. Or, if you want to be slightly more realistic, perhaps it will at least reach your target audience.

Hopefully, these top tips for infographic design inspiration will encourage you to consider a trend that isn’t likely to go out of fashion any time soon. Infographic design can do wonderful things for your business and reputation. It can turn your clients and potential customers onto your brand, products and services in a way that informs and inspires. It can help you stand out from the crowd, and remain front-of-mind through more compelling communications. With so many plus-points, and so few negatives, what’s stopping you from getting started?

If you enjoyed this article, you might enjoy this one too:

– Infographic design: how to use it to drive traffic and backlinks

William Baker
Digital producer
William Baker
Digital producer
As our digital producer, Will regularly contributes to the pages of Brand Fabrik, our online publication dedicated to branding, marketing and design. Will enjoys relaying his enthusiasm for technology and its impact on the creative services sector. He also relishes the opportunity to review the latest design-related products and gadgets.

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