Creating compelling infographics is a great way to add interest to your website and social media, as well as to get a lot of information to your audience in a small amount of space. To create compelling infographics you will want to ensure that you give it a lot of thought and effort.
* Know Your Audience – It’s imperative to understand who your audience is before you set out to make an infographic. Just like you have to know who your audience is when you write a blog post, know even more when you create a graphic. You don’t want to accidentally offend anyone.
* Understand the Psychology of Color – Colors bring a lot of thoughts and feelings to the viewer based on their demographics and other information that you have about the audience. You also want to use colors that complement your branding.
* Know the Standard Sizes of Infographics – You don’t want the infographic to be more than 600 pixels wide by 1800 pixels in height. It can be various sizes in between that, but it shouldn’t be bigger. Consider using that entire space, though, to get more bang for your buck.
* Know What the Point of Your Infographic Is - What is the final thought that you want the person viewing your infographic to come away thinking? Have that thought in mind as you craft the story that will drive your infographic.
* Tell a Story with Pictures and Words — The really great thing about an infographic is that you can use both pictures and words to show what you’re trying to convey. It’s kind of like a comic book. Lots of pictures, few words, but a lot of information in a small space make infographics very useful.
* Chose a Data-Centric Topic – The easiest infographics to create are ones with information that contains numerical facts and figures. An infographic makes it possible to bring those facts to life in pictures and words.
* Use Graphs Creatively – Think outside the box on how to use graphics like graphs to depict the information that you want to show your audience. This is the time to let your creative side show even if you’re dealing with “boring” numbers.
* Check Your Facts – Always check the facts before making your infographic to ensure that the data is an accurate depiction of what you’re trying to convey. Creating an infographic takes a lot of time and effort and the worst thing that can happen is to find out after you’ve published that your facts are wrong.
* Use the Right Tools - Canva and Piktochart are two good choices if you don’t have access to graphic designer tools like Adobe Photoshop or other high level graphics designs programs. The right tools can make all the difference in how your infographic looks and is received.
Links:
Canva - http://www.canva.com/
Piktochart - http://www.piktochart.com/
Adobe Photoshop - http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html
Finally, consider hiring a graphic designer who has experience making infographics that are data centric. You want them to be able to bring your idea to life in a way that resonates with your audience while also conveying the right information.