Design Principles
Introduction
Your design should be visually appealing to your audience and should complement the overall message of your project, but ultimately it is up to you to decide what looks best. This section on visuals includes some tips to consider for your overall design.
What Is On This Page?
Colour
Reinforce Your Message with Colour
For an infographic, the easiest way to choose colour is to examine your topic to determine if there is a colour that best relates to it. For example, a project about ocean life makes more sense if it uses the colour blue.
There are also plenty of articles online about the psychology of colour in marketing. Cool colours tend to be calming and friendly; warm colours may be welcoming and positive. When choosing colours, consider using these hidden meanings to your advantage.
Colour Palettes
With colour, the important thing is to keep it consistent. Sticking to a colour palette will help make your work stand out and will keep your message on track.
Choose between two and five colours for your palette and designate one as your main colour and one as your secondary colour. These will be the colours you use most. Any others you choose should be used sparingly to add interest or emphasis.
Colour and Relationships
In an infographic, colour can help you create strong visual cues for your reader. Use the same colour to link related content, use bright colours behind text to highlight important points, or use different blocks of colours in, or between sections to create a divide.
Examples
Create connections with colour to clearly link content and reduce confusion in complex areas.
Use colour to create clear divides between content sections, and use bright colours to bring attention to important areas.
Watch
This guide will walk you through 7 quick tips when choosing the right color combination for your next infographic project.
Font and Text
In general, sans serif fonts are preferred over serif fonts (think Calibri vs. Times New Roman), but you can use any font you like. Try not to overuse fun or complex fonts; your readers will get tired of them quickly.
Limit yourself to no more than two or three fonts and be consistent in their use; e.g. one for headings, one for body text, and one for emphasis or notes.
Font Size
Play with font size to show emphasis or scale. It is a great way to create a visual cue without needing a graphic. Otherwise, be consistent when applying size across headings and body text, and make sure your smallest text is still legible for your reader.
How Much Text?
Keep just enough text to tell your story, but no more. You do not want to over clutter your infographic with explanations or labels. Use only what is necessary to get the point across.
Examples
Using two fonts is a good option. If you use a playful font for headings, keep body text structured and readable.
Use text size to help your reader interpret scale or to highlight importance.
Watch
Learn about the different types of fonts, and how to choose fonts for your project. This video also talks about common typography terms, and fonts to avoid.
Contrast
If a background colour and the text or images on top are too similar, they may blend into one another and will be harder to see. You want your content to stand out, and that is where contrast comes in.
The general rule is when using light coloured content use a dark background and when using dark coloured content use a light background (straightforward, right?). If you are adding text and you do not want to change your background, consider using coloured shapes behind the text to make it more visible.
You can always check your contrast with a contrast checker.
Contrast Between Images
Remember that contrast is not just for text. Using contrast between your graphics and your background will help your visuals stand out, and contrast in the size or colour of your graphics also works to emphasize your point.
Examples
Watch
This video discusses colour contrast and how it can help your design stand out. Knowing how to create visually accessible content will help your entire audience see your message.
Images and Icons
Studies have shown that using images can help your audience retain information. You can use photos, but infographics lean towards icons and illustrations in order to keep the visuals simple and appealing to the eye.
For an infographic, you should always aim to replace as much text as you can with a visual element.
Choosing Images
Look for .png or .jpg file types as they will be suited to most projects, and choose images that:
Relate to Your Message
Are Consistent In Look and Feel
Are a High Resolution
If you are not sure why you are including an image, consider leaving it out. Too many images can be distracting.
Examples
Keep your visuals on topic, and avoid adding clutter with too many graphical elements.
By till noon from Chit Chart
Watch
This video offers a basic overview of using illustrations and icons in an infographic.
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Charts and Graphs
If your information is data-driven, you may choose to create a chart, graph, or other visual representation. This is data visualization. Learn a bit about data visualization in Planning Your Infographic.
This is a deep topic on which whole courses are built, but beginners can keep these points in mind to help make visualizations a success:
Proportions should make visual sense (large things should be large, and small things small).
Keep your data in a logical order (e.g. small to large, January to December, etc.).
Label only what you need to.
Be aware that some colours relate strongly with a response.
Limit the explanation. If you need to explain a visualization at length, it is not working.
Read more about designing charts and graphs for some very helpful tips and design best practices.
And remember, it is easy to mislead an audience (intentionally or not) through poorly crafted data visualizations. Check out some lousy data visualizations to learn more about what to avoid.
Examples
Keep the organization of data in a logical order. Here we see it is organized small to large (which leaves the 'wow!' moment for the end).
By till noon from Chit Chart
Keep your data interesting by using a variety of visualizations, and keep it free of clutter by limiting the amount of labels.
From UN Stats Division
Watch
Learn about how to effectively apply colour to data visualizations.
Data Visualization: Organization Matters
Learn about how to visually organize data to make the biggest impact.
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Exercise: Why Visualize Data?
Below is the data that we have been collecting through those short questionnaires scattered throughout this module. Although this is a simple example of a data set, we can already see how difficult it can be to try to understand the information found within this spreadsheet.
Now imagine if this spreadsheet had 50 columns instead of 14 and thousands of lines of data. Data visualization can help you depict data in a way that is easier to understand and share.
Take a moment to review this data, then generate the data-visualized infographic for this data by clicking the link to the right.
How is presenting this data visually is different than presenting it in its raw format?
Layout
How Big is an Infographic?
There is no one-size that is right for an infographic. Consider what works best for your content, the platform you will be sharing it on, or the format you have been asked to submit it in by your instructor and choose what works for you.
Common Layouts
Hopefully you have already decided what type of infographic you are creating because this will help inform your layout. We have some examples of different types of infographics on our introductory page.
If you followed our Planning Your Infographic section, then you may already have a wireframe ready to go!
Do some searching online to see how other creators have handled similar infographics. There are many templates and cheat sheets available, just remember that your instructor has probably seen a lot of templates already, so switch it up enough to make it yours.
Do not forget to leave room for references if you are including them directly on the infographic.
Direct Your Audience
Consider how your audience will read your infographic. You want to keep a good flow so your reader takes in all of your hard work without missing anything important.
Western readers will typically read top-down, left to right, so this is a good directional flow to map your content to. Think of it as a Z-pattern.
In addition to the Z-pattern, consider using navigational cues, like lines, arrows, numbers, callouts, and proximity to your advantage.
Lines, arrows, and numbers connect point A to point B and are the obvious choice to lead your reader along a path.
Callouts connect images and text, and can act as visual pauses. If you need to explain a graphic or highlight a point, use a callout.
The proximity of objects allows readers to make connections between content. Use proximity to pull your reader in the direction you want.
Check Regularly to See if Your Layout is Working
The easiest way to know if your layout is working is to ask someone else to take a look. But if that is not an option, ask yourself:
Where do your eyes go first? Do you find your way to the starting point easily?
Are there any spots where a reader might get lost?
Is there just too much content? If there is, what can be removed or simplified?
Examples
Watch
Discover the basics of layout and composition. Topics covered include the five basic principles: proximity, white space, alignment, contrast, and repetition.
Exercise: Build an Infographic
Use this interactive infographic builder to add colour, graphics, design, and citations to a mock infographic.
Click here to view this activity in full-size and to print your infographic