How does one produce an infographic? The process is generally this:
1. What story do you want to tell?
2. Do you have data that supports the story? Is the data compelling?
3. How can the data be visualized?
4. Design the infographic.
A Smashing Magazine posting, The Do’s and Don’ts of Infographic Design, by Amy Balliet provides some useful tips.
Organize the infographic to create a visual story – wireframe the infographic.
Identify the typography.
Tell a story: a beginning, middle, and end.
Identify the hook or primary take-away.
Choose a three-color palette; make it universal. Avoid dominant dark colors, neons, and white background.
A follow-on Smashing Magazine posting, The Do’s and Don’ts of Infographic Design: Revisited by Nathan Yau provides additional important contextual information.
Bottom line: when it comes to information graphics, it should always be data and information first, and then you design around that. For that to happen, you have to learn more about data — how to work with it, where it comes from, and what it represents in the real world. Data can be beautiful when you realize the latter, and when you do, you won’t have to work so hard to catch the eyes of readers, because the story behind the numbers and spreadsheets will shine through.
A third Smashing Magazine posting, Data Visualization and Infographics Resources by Cameron Chapman provides inspiration and resources.
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