Infographics are something of a recent development in the design world, only really bursting onto the scene around ten years ago and have become a popular way to communicate information. An infographic is defined as:
A visual representation of information or data.
It is a collection of imagery and data visualisations like graphs and charts, with limited text. This leads to an easy-to-understand overview of the given topic. They have become a valuable tool for visual communication and the ones with the most unique and interesting designs are usually the ones that are the most effective at grabbing peoples attention. This would also give them visual reminders for the information. People may opt for infographics over simple text as they can provide a quick overview of a topic, explain a complex process, display research data and findings, summarise long pieces of information, comparing information and they can even be used to raise awareness about something. As a result of this, infographics can be used in almost all industries.
David McCandless is a British data-journalist, writer and information designer. He founded the visual blog, Information is Beautiful, which is an online platform to help designers make clearer and more informed decisions. McCandless and his team create visualisations based on facts and data, which they are constantly revising and updating. He is also the author of a number of books which provide guidance and advice for those creating infographics.
Looking at his books, Information is Beautiful and Knowledge is Beautiful, McCandless talks about how he loves to understand the world, so creates data visualisations and information designs that are driven by his own questions. This has resulted in a huge portfolio of designs between the two books, under a range of topics. A common feature within all his designs are the limited amount of text that he uses. He often uses keys to help depict large amounts of information visually. This helps prevent the reader getting overwhelmed and they can digest the information easily. He also keeps to more subdued colour palettes as there can be a lot going on in the one composition. So this prevents the reader getting distracted by the colour when their main focus is the information.
McCandless also utilises icons and simplified images to help portray the information as well. This is useful as it is proven that people can take in information quicker if it is presented to them in a visual way. They also tend to retain the knowledge better if there is a visual aid along with it. All his designs have a feeling of consistency within them, whether that be the colour, typography or images. This again helps the reader focus on the information and prevents a very busy design from becoming messy.
In terms of beginning designing my own infographic, McCandless provides a solid foundation of what works well and some ways to present large pieces of information. The inclusion of a key could be useful as well as it will cut down the amount of text that I would have to include and is something that most people know how to use and is self explanatory.
Information is Beautiful & Knowledge is Beautiful by David McCandless