Planning Your
Infographic

3. Define the Purpose or Goal

There are many reasons to create an infographic, so you need to think about what it is you are trying to accomplish. Are you informing? Teaching? Persuading? This will help you determine what information you need to search for and include.

Possible goals could be:

Consider what you want your audience to do or think after viewing your infographic and focus your efforts on ensuring achieving that goal. 

4. Research

Collect all of the information you will need on your topic. This can take a long time, and you may end up searching for information in sources like articles, books, websites, and reports. 

If you need help, the Seneca library can assist you with finding high quality research on your topic. 

Once you have your initial research, or if you have been given a specific source to use (like a video or article assigned in class), narrow the information down and decide on which points are important to use. Remember your audience and goals when making that decision and consider what information may need to be given first. 

Organize your information into an introduction, middle, and conclusion, just like you would for a research paper.

5. Decide If You Need Charts or Graphs (Data Visualization)

According to Tableau.com, “Data visualization is the graphical representation of information and data.” 

The goal of data visualization is to make your information clear for your audience by highlighting important statistics, facts, or other information in a visual way. 

Think about what you can compare or showcase from your research findings. A lot of data or information can be visualized using charts, graphs, and pictograms, and understanding when to use a bar chart over a pie chart, for example, will help your audience grasp your message and will help showcase your data rather than make it confusing.

6. Consider Types of Infographics

You can look at some common infographic types to see if one suits your topic. Starting with a type may help you decide on a structure for your infographic. Feel free to mix and match elements from different infographic types if it suits your topic. 

Revisit What is an Infographic? for a description of common infographic types.

7. Sketch or Wireframe Your Layout

It can be helpful to start physically sketching out your infographic. Sketching can be done using pencil and paper, software, or online tools. 

You do not need to have exact images, colours, or other design elements yet. Your sketch can help you visualize where elements like text or images will go on the page and how large images will be. This type of planning sketch is sometimes called a wireframe.

If you are not ready to wireframe yet, it can be helpful to look at infographic templates for inspiration on sites like Canva. There is no single type or template that you need to follow; you are welcome to develop your own style to suit your information.

Information on selecting images/graphics, colours, fonts, and more for your design can be found in our Design Principles section.

8. Write Your Text

Take the information you have gathered and type out the exact wording you want. Try to be concise in your writing as lengthy paragraphs may overwhelm your infographic. Refer to your initial sketch to get an idea of how much writing can fit in each section. 

Proofreading is highly recommended!

9. Keep Track of Citations

Track all of your information and resources so they can be cited on your infographic in the style specified by your professor. 

For best academic integrity practices, you will want to cite information you used, as well as any graphics and other visuals that are not your own original designs. Find out more about citing in an infographic on our Finding and Citing Images page.