Infographics
Getting Started
Infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data, or knowledge intended to present information quickly and clearly.
Decide on what story you want to tell with data and visualizations. Try creating a sketch of how you plan to design the graphic. Then pick a software tool below and get started.
Software Tools
Adobe Express
(formerly Adobe Spark)Recommended for easy-to-use templates
Adobe Express is a free, easy-to-use web-based program from Adobe that provides templates for three different kinds of projects: webpages, graphics, and video presentations. Create a Express flyer, then search the templates for "infographic" to find a base to get started.
Canva
Alternative to Adobe Express
Canva is extremely similar to Adobe Express. Clemson does not have a premium license to Canva and there are some limitations to the free license, including the ability to resize your document. However, Canva has more infographic templates.
Adobe InDesign
Recommended for text-heavy infographics
Adobe InDesign is a desktop publishing software application for creating flyers, brochures, magazines, newspapers, and books. Projects created using InDesign can be shared in both digital and print formats. Use InDesign if your infographic will have more text than graphics.
Adobe Illustrator
Recommended for graphics-heavy infographics
Illustrator is a vector graphics editor and design program used to create using shapes, color, effects, images, and typography. Illustrator has more robust, complex tools for making beautiful graphics, so use Illustrator if your infographic is going to have more images than text. You can import vector graphics from Excel to adjust in Illustrator.
Examples
In 1900, the African-American historian, sociologist, writer, and Black rights activist, W.E.B. Du Bois presented data visualizations at the Exposition Universelle (1900) in Paris, France. In addition to curating 500 photographs of the lives of Black Americans, Du Bois and his Atlanta University team of students and scholars created 60 handmade data visualizations to document the ways Black Americans were being denied access to education, housing, employment, and household wealth. More information.
