Content Types
An infographic can be an extremely powerful way to display information for your audience, but only if it’s done correctly. So many companies are working to create infographics, but they keep missing the mark.
When it comes to creating an infographic that is both educational and visually appealing, there are a few infographic best practices that business owners and marketers should always keep in mind.
These best practices exist to help designers and non-designers alike follow a sort of blueprint while creating their infographics.
This article will help you understand the eight infographic best practices your business needs to start pumping out compelling visuals that tell your story, convey information and drive traffic to your website.
Traffic that, in turn, will likely turn into paying customers!
Ready to take advantage of your next infographic? Make sure you stick to these proven best practices for infographics each and every time. Then use Visme to make free infographics that look incredible.
An infographic isn’t the best format or place to do a deep dive into a topic.
There are other times and places for in-depth content, like a long form blog article, an ebook, or an online course. An infographic is simply meant to visually illustrate a set of data or supporting arguments for one main point.
For example, look at this infographic about key statistics on visual marketing:
This Visme infographic is designed to be simple and focus on a single main point: how to increase blog engagement.
Each supporting element in this infographic details a step involved in doing so. This is exactly how you want to set up your infographic. Make it as easy as possible to see and understand your point right off the bat.
Each time you’re getting started on a new infographic for your company, decide on your topic and avoid delving into different interpretations, side arguments or tangents of your main point.
Choosing your infographic topic can seem tricky. You’re invested in your industry. There are so many topics to choose from—especially when you’re invested in your industry.
But which of those topics is interesting to you because you’re passionate about your business? And which topics would actually be of interest and offer value to your target audience?
That being said, you should always stick to infographic topics that are interesting to your audience. This is how you draw potential leads and customers in, engage them with your content and get them to click over to your website.
Here's an example of an infographic topic that provides an illustration of what would be a good fit for companies. For example, if you offer SEO and digital marketing services:
It’s very obvious what this infographic’s viewpoint is: you should be taking advantage of video marketing. The infographic explains exactly why, and it includes statistics to support its main point.
The entire infographic covers information that is all going back to the single main topic, keeping it succinct and cohesive. At the same time, it's working to convince and convert the audience into paying customers.
When you start paying attention to your audience and keeping them in mind, it becomes much easier to determine your infographic topic.
What is going to get them more interested in your business or industry? What would entice them to buy?
Brainstorm a list of topics and make sure each one has a specific audience that it caters to. This ensures your infographic will reach the right people, and drive leads and traffic to your website.
Use the Visme AI Writer to help you brainstorm a concise main point or idea. In the prompt, explain the broad topic and ask for specific ideas that could be used as an infographic. Then, use the AI to help you:
This is one of the most important infographic best practices in this entire list. After all, what is an infographic without visuals? Basically, only text. And if there’s one thing your infographic shouldn’t be, it’s all text.
The term infographic is literally “informational graphic” put together, so by definition, it needs to include graphic elements alongside all the text, data points and supporting arguments.
Also, you need to make sure your infographic still makes sense even after taking most of the text out. In a design like this, your text should be mostly supplementary. Check out the example below to see what we mean.
You can see how graphic elements are being used to represent the text and the data. The text helps us to fully understand what the data is showing, but we can still get the gist of the information without it.
You also want the image/visual to be memorable. There are a few ways to do this. One way is to see if you can relate the visuals to your topic.
Incorporating actual imagery from real life to illustrate your point is a great way to help your audience remember your infographic.
Take a look at this infographic example, which uses an actual design of a tree to explain how much nature does for the economy:
Made with Visme Infographic Maker
It’s important to also note that consistency is key. Don't use different types of design elements at the top of your infographic than you do at the bottom.
For example, if you start using line icons in your infographic design, make sure that you use line icons throughout the entire visual.
For a unique visual angle to help tell your infographic’s story, try using Visme’s AI Image generator. Use the prompt window to describe your infographic’s topic and what you need, then let the AI do its magic.
While your infographic needs to be visually appealing, it also needs to perfectly illustrate your point. The best way to do that is by using the right visuals with just the right amount of supporting text and data elements.
When creating an infographic, especially when using an infographic design tool like Visme, you have a lot of options for graphic elements:
Your infographic should include some combination of these five elements.
It doesn’t need to include all five every time, but these text and design elements need to be spread out throughout.
Data visualization is the representation of information in a visual format, such as a chart, diagram, graph, picture, icon and so on.
In the infographic example below, the data visualization is a line graph that shows the reaction of dogs vs. cats when it comes to missing their humans.
Choose your data visualization wisely while creating your infographic. As yourself, what makes the most sense for displaying your data or message?
You can test out different types of data visualization techniques in Visme's editor, like charts, tables, widgets, maps and more.
There are over 44 different types of data visualization, as showcased in this blog post. From column bar graphs and Venn diagrams to flow charts and more, there are tons of different ways to illustrate your information.
The type of data visualization you choose really depends on the type of data you have. There are radial elements that help represent percentages, as seen in the second section of the infographic example below:
Here are some helpful tips to remember:
Determining your data visualization type relies on you first actually obtaining the data and information you want to share. That way, you can center your illustrations around it.
When your audience sees your infographic for the first time, where do their eyes automatically go? Are they following the infographic in the correct order or is your information all over the place?
You need to make sure the flow of your infographic makes sense to the eyes, so people know which order to read your data and supporting arguments in.
There are two ways to do this: first, you can simply place your elements in the correct order, or second, you can use an actual line, arrow, or other visual indicator to physically direct the reader where to go.
The infographic above numbers each section, but it’s also laid out in a way that’s obvious where your eye should go next.
Notice how there are clear separations between each section that utilize different colors to let readers know that one supporting argument is done and they can move on to the next point.
By contrast, the infographic below is much less organized at first glance.
However, arrows are used to lead the reader from one section to the next so that no one is left confused and overwhelmed, trying to understand all of the information put in front of them.
Choosing the perfect font can be extremely difficult. There are just so many options to choose from!
Before you start pinpointing two (or three, if you need an accent font) complementary fonts for your infographic, you need to first understand what type of fonts you need to stay away from.
Unless you’re using them in large type for a header, you need to stay far away from decorative or script fonts when it comes to infographic design.
Many infographic text elements are smaller in size, as there’s a larger emphasis placed on visual elements, and these cursive or complicated font types can be tough to read at first glance.
Well, a good rule of thumb to start with is a combination of serif/serif, sans serif/sans serif, or serif/sans serif. But here are a few more tips to help with your font pairing.
There are four different types of fonts:
Serif fonts are the more old-fashioned typefaces with little tails on their lettering. The little tails are called “serifs.” Sans serif font, literally translated, means “without serif,” so these are more modern fonts that don’t have the little tails on each letter.
Script fonts are cursive, where subsequent letters within a word are touching. Decorative fonts are certainly the most diverse typefaces.
Some of these fonts aren’t letters at all, but decorative elements. Others are fonts seen in pop culture, like movie posters and book covers. And some are just meant to be bold and different; for headings, logos or signage.
Each of these different types of fonts has different classifications:
You can learn more about each specific type of font here if you’re interested. Check out this example from Visme’s font pairing guide:
In the first example, both fonts are using the Slab classification. This doesn’t offer much contrast between the two typefaces. Instead, use a Slab Serif font with a Geometric Sans Serif font, as shown on the right.
This offers a much more noticeable differentiation between the two font types (header versus body), and makes for a much more cohesive pairing.
If your header is a 30-point font, you don’t want to pair it with a 24-point or 28-point body font size. These are too similar and will make it difficult to differentiate between your headings, subheadings and body copy.
Instead, you want to pair, say, a 36-point heading font with a 16-point or 18-point body size. This way, your readers will be able to easily tell which pieces of text are headings and which include body copy.
This infographic template above is a great example of contrasting font sizes. The header font is much larger than the body font directly below it, offering a clear distinction between the two.
One idea to easily find your font pairing is not to choose two different fonts but instead, choose two different weights from the same font.
Many fonts offer font weight options, and using a bold weight for your heading and a regular or light weight for your copy can be a great way to create a seamless font pairing while still offering contrasting elements.
One font for all headers, one font for all subheadings and one font for all body copy. If you try mixing and matching body fonts or subheading fonts, your design will look cluttered and messy.
Instead, keep it clean and cohesive by only switching up fonts when you switch its level in your infographic design.
Check out the infographic below as an example. It has three font types: one for the header, one for each of the subheadings underneath each icon, and a third for the body copy that further explains the subheading.
There isn’t a different font for each paragraph. The design looks clean and put together because each level of text has its own set font and design.
Now that you’ve found the perfect font combination for your infographic, it’s time to select a color scheme. And you thought the hard part was over.
There are so many options when it comes to a good color scheme for your infographic. The important thing to remember is that you want to stick to 2-3 colors, maximum, just like when it comes to your fonts.
When it comes to colors, there are a couple of exceptions. If you’re using colors that are on a spectrum, like a rainbow or a range of shades of a single color, it becomes more acceptable to create a multicolored infographic.
The infographic example below utilizes different shades of green to encompass a beautiful monochromatic color scheme. This is a multicolored (well, multi-shade) color scheme that does extremely well in its design.
Other than that, you really want to stick to a basic color scheme of just two or three different colors.
Don’t go into your color selection process blindly. Here are a few tips to help kickstart some ideas for you.
If nothing else, simply stick to your company’s colors.
This is a great way to match your company’s overall branding, increase brand awareness in your infographics and spend little to no time on the color scheme portion of your infographic.
If your branding has only one main color, you can find a complementary color or consider using darker/lighter shades.
What is your infographic about? Can you pull colors from the visuals or the topic you’re already planning on using?
This infographic template has the right idea. Its content is all about strawberries, so its main colors are different shades of pink and red (the color of strawberries).
Colors that you find in nature (like a sunset, the forest or the beach) will always look natural and aesthetically pleasing to the eye, so pulling shades from these is a great way to choose a visually appealing color scheme.
The shades of blue and tan in the infographic below are pulled from a beach setting and instill a feeling of peace for the reader.
If all else fails, try one of these tools to help you select the perfect color scheme for your infographic.
Once you've selected the perfect color scheme for your infographic, it's time to move on to our last infographic best practice.
The most common dimensions for an infographic design are long and vertical. But there’s no steadfast rule that says your infographic needs to have those dimensions.
Ask yourself these questions when considering the dimensions of your infographic:
Instagram infographics, for example, are square or slightly elongated in dimensions that fit inside a mobile screen neatly. Infographics that are part of a presentation are horizontal, just like the rest of the slides in the deck.
Here’s a visualization of the most common infographic dimensions to help you choose.
Your infographic might look great on a desktop, but does it look just as good on a mobile phone? Ensuring your infographic is mobile-friendly is the best way to reach a wider audience, but how do you do it?
Here are some techniques you can use to make your infographic look good on any device.
When creating an infographic, it’s a good idea to always follow the KISS Principle. KISS stands for Keep It Simple. The basis of this principle is that if something can’t be explained simply, it’s not going to be usable. KISS applies to anything from fighter planes to infographics; there’s no in-between.
When an infographic is simple, it’ll be easy to understand both on desktops and mobile devices. Viewers on phones might have to zoom in to read some areas of your infographic, so make it easy for them to do so. For example, if the text is too small and they have to zoom in a lot, it’ll break the flow and they’ll lose their place in the graphic.
Easily, one of the best ways to ensure that your infographic is mobile friendly is to make it responsive. Instead of creating a long vertical JPG image, build the infographic as a responsive landing page.
Creating the infographic as a responsive landing page eliminates the need for zooming into smaller sections and reorganizes the content to match the screen size it’s being viewed on.
Another way to make your infographic easier to look at on mobile is to break it up into chunks instead of it being one big graphic. You can even have two versions, one big and one in parts. When your infographic is separated into snackable chunks, it’s not only easier to browse, but it’s also easier to share on social media.
Separate the infographic into squares and create an Instagram carousel or cut it up into rectangles and make a slideshow. The infographic below, for example, could be separated easily into equal-sized rectangles.
When you create an infographic with Visme, you have the option to share your infographic as a live Visme link, which will look great on any mobile screen. Not only does it display at high resolution, but it can also show animations and interactivity if your infographic has any of that.
Plus, if your infographic has data visualizations linked to live datasheets, a live Visme link will always automatically update to the latest data. And finally, thanks to Visme’s analytics dashboard, you can track who looked at your infographic, from where and for how long.
When finishing up your infographic, you want to make sure you include the correct information in your footer.
This is where you’ll store all of the sources used to find the data included in your infographic, your company name, logo, URL and even a call-to-action.
Sharing your sources is extremely important, especially when it comes to data and statistics.
Check out the footer of the infographic below. It shares the exact source of the information used alongside the company name and social icons.
If you include data that isn't widely known, whether it’s in an infographic, a blog article or an email, you should always include a source.
This way, your audience knows you pulled that information from a reputable source and aren’t just making numbers up.
You can also pop your company’s logo into the footer for brand strength and recognition. This is a great idea if you’ve used branding elements within the infographic, as your logo will mesh well with the rest of the design.
Every single one of Visme’s infographic templates lets you update sources and company information in the footer of your infographic.
Giving credit where credit is due is essential, but taking credit for something you’ve created and plan to share online is just as important.
Make sure people can find you easily when they come across your infographic. Link to a corresponding landing page on your website, and include a call-to-action telling your audience what to do next.
This might be making a purchase, navigating to your website, learning more about a service or donating to a non-profit.
Including a call-to-action is a great way to incite action in someone who is just starting to become interested in your business or industry.
Take advantage of Visme’s dynamic fields to update your infographic footers. Add custom fields to the elements in your footer so you can keep them updated easily.
Let’s say you have ten infographics in one workspace that all include your website URL and links to your social media channels. Update a change to your website URL via the custom field and all infographics in that workspace will update automatically.
If you still have questions about creating infographics, these FAQs will clear your doubts.
The best infographic format is the one that showcases and explains your information in the best way possible. The most common infographic format is long and vertical, but you can also try square, horizontal, or interactive.
A strong infographic is characterized by a clear visual hierarchy, relevant data, concise text and engaging design. It’s visually appealing while also ensuring information is easily digestible. Data is represented with a logical flow and the layout is organized and concise.
Avoid clutter, excessive text, unclear visuals and inconsistent style. Limit the amount of information by using only essential visuals, focus on conveying key points with brief captions and prevent confusion—to enhance readability.
About 50% of a successful infographic lies in compelling visual elements that effectively convey information. Strike a balance between visuals and text, ensuring that the infographic delivers its intended message.
The first thing on your infographic should be a captivating and informative headline to immediately capture the viewer’s attention. It should set the tone for the entire infographic and entice the audience to explore further.
Ideally, an infographic should be kept to a single page to maintain viewer engagement and simplicity. A concise one-page format encourages a quick grasp of information without overwhelming the audience.
These eight infographic best practices will help elevate your infographic design game to the next level. When you create infographics with Visme, you’re already one step ahead thanks to hundreds of professionally designed templates that save you time and effort.
Sign up and start creating jaw-dropping infographics today with Visme’s infographic templates and design center.
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About the Author
Chloe West is the content marketing manager at Visme. Her experience in digital marketing includes everything from social media, blogging, email marketing to graphic design, strategy creation and implementation, and more. During her spare time, she enjoys exploring her home city of Charleston with her son.