You will play many roles in the creation of an infographic.
1. Pick your source materials
2. Digitize the data and prepare it for analysis.
3. Analyze materials, if not born digital. (Refer to the section on data analysis and mining)
4. Give your source materials focus and purpose. Start with the end in mind.
5. Choose which kind of infographic best matches your story. There are a handful of common infographic formats:
6. Select a program to create your infographic, web-based or otherwise. Many web-based programs offer free trials or free limited use.
Or try free hand with these programs
Check out Rey Junco's blog "Social Media in Higher Education". There are many posts about infographics.
Vanderbilt University's Center for Teaching has a great article on visual thinking.
There are many infographic formats. Choosing the right one will help expedite its construction and give it a clearer focus.
There are also pros and cons to using different infographics and those depend on what story you want the infographic to tell.
Visualized Article: Just like it sounds, taking a text heavy document and visualizing it.
Useful Bait: This kind of infographic is more of a pragmatic tool. A good example is an infographic that explains measurements.
Flowchart: Gives a choose your own path approach to a story
Timeline: Data is visualized chronologically
Versus: Presents 2 opposing ideas
Number Crunching/Number Porn: Just the numbers, ma'am
Photo / Data Visual: Use images from the real world to emphasize a story, focus on the artistic qualities of the story.
Ultimately, form follows function in an infographic.
Infographic templates remove the stress of having to create a good graphic design and frees you to focus on content. But really, these templates adhere to some basic design principles. These standards and practices improve the graphic and increase visual literacy.
Below are some down and dirty dos and don'ts for graphic design.
Some of these web-based programs have free trials that give you access to several templates. It is a great idea to play around with the different tools to see which ones you like, which you prefer. You can test drive before you commit to a purchase. This is just small list.
There is a learning curve and creating the infographics itself even after getting the data you want is time consuming. The templates save a lot of time, but still, plan on several hours to put together a good graphic.
Or try free hand with these programs
The chart below by Dani Brecher at the Claremont College Consortium compares different tools. http://libguides.libraries.claremont.edu/content.php?pid=523576&sid=4733368
| Piktochart | Infogr.am | Easel.ly | Infoactive | Canva | Venngage | Gliffy | |
| In 5 Words... | Drag-and-drop infographic creator | Excellent for data-heavy infographics | Drag-and-drop for qualitative infographics | Chart-based infographic creator | Drag-and-drop graphic design (not just infographics) | Drag-and-drop, business-oriented | Like Vizio, but free/cheap |
| Design Choices | Graphics, 4000+ Icons, Images (including upload your own), Background Color/Texture, Text, Charts, Video, Maps, Moods | Charts (>30 types), Maps, Pictures, Videos, Text, Timer | Vhemes, Icons, Backgrounds, Shapes, Text, Uploaded Images | Data, charts, text, filters | Images (free and $), Layouts, Text, Backgrounds, Uploaded Images | Pictogram, Chart, Shape, Text, Image, Background | Shapes, UML Diagram Components, Systems Analysis Diagram Components |
| Freemium Cost | $39.99/yr for educators; $29/month or $290/year for others (removes watermark, additional design choices) | $18/month (password-protect infographics; private sharing; PDF and PNG exports) | $3/month, for more images, more fonts, and no ads. | $12/month with more icons, but there is also an education discount available. | None, you pay for premium stock photos | Cost for premium templates; $19/month for premium access (export to PDF or PNG; premium charts and icons; premium themes) | 15-day free trial; $3.99/month for academic groups of > 5; otherwise, $3.99/month |
| Themes | 203, including 12 free and a blank theme | 8 themes | 16, but can also edit other people's work | 2 | Too many to count | 60+, constantly adding more | N/A |
| Export Files | JPEG, PNG, PDF (pro only) | Only in Pro | JPEG, PDF | None | PDF or PNG | PDF or PNG (premium only) | JPEG, PNG, SVG |
| Embeddable? | Yes | Yes, with Responsive Design | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Import Data | Excel and Google Spreadsheets | XLS, CSV, or live data (e.g., Google Spreadsheets, JSON array) | No | CSV or Google Spreadsheets | No | No | Google Spreadsheets or Fusion |
| Keyboard Controls? | Yes | N/A | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Etc. | Graphics are search engine-readable. | Serious social media integrations. | Integrates with visualize.me. |
A few more resources to consider:
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