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Designing an Infographic: Step Five: Adding Style to Your Infographic

Step Five: Adding Style to Your Infographic

Manipulate design elements to add some flair and make sure your infographic is aesthetically pleasing and clear.
Start with text.  Keep it simple as a visual summary with the text present absolutely necessary.
Use repetition, consistency and alignment in your infographic.
Add basic shapes to create a grid layout or to emphasize headers or list elements.
Add icons or pictures to reinforce important concepts in the text.
Be aware of negative space in your design.
Color should be an added bonus.

Manipulating Text

Here is an example of manipulating the text to make a visual statement. In the first draft, the text is simply placed on the poster. In the next draft, the text size of the headline has been increased and the last line has been bolded to highlight that data. In the final draft, the headline is increased in size again and is in all caps. The tagline has been bolded and is in all caps as well. Between the size and weight of the text on the bottom half of the infographic, it balances out the weight of the heavy black & white photo that is on the top half of the infographic.

Besides being a good example of manipulating text, it also is a good example of color. In design, the number three is a "magic" number, and it is good to use the power of three in your design. In this poster, there are three instances of the color red; in the state of Georgia at the top of the page, in the headline, and in the tagline. The way this is designed the color red actually leads the eye through the poster.

Repetition, Consistency and Alignment​

Here is an example of repetition, consistency and alignment. In the first draft, the data points seem to just be floating in space all willy-nilly even though they are actually aligned, but it has no repetition or consistency. In the final draft by simply adding lighter colored boxes around the data points, they now stand out, are much easier to read, and seem to create a backbone down the middle of the infographic. The lighter colored boxes are a nice repetitive feature that also adds consistency to the infographic.

Basic Shapes to Emphasize Headers and List Elements​

Here the designer added basic shapes to emphasize headers and the list of numbers.

Extra graphic elements like basics shapes to create a grid layout or to emphasize headers or list elements are easy ways to add style to your infographic. In this case, the basic shapes, and contrasting color also add weight to the left side of the infographic which helps balance the weight created by the black & white photo.

Add Icons or Pictures​

In the first draft, we can see there are no decorations or color, it is merely plain blue and white text. In the next draft, the designer has added icons and pictures that create more interest but the infographic is still missing something. In the final draft, the designer added color to create a more eye-catching infographic.

Be Aware of Negative Space​

Be aware of negative space in your design.  Negative space refers to the white space in your design that doesn’t contain any text or images.  Negative space is just as important as any other element of design.  Make sure you have margins around the edges of your infographic and give you text and images space to “breathe” 

Keeping the negative space in mind the designer pulled the images back from the edges to give the eye a place to rest and emphasize the design. By doing this they have created a frame around the infographic which naturally draws the eye around the design.

Be Aware of Negative Space​

Here is another example of negative space. In the first draft, it is not taken into consideration, but in the final draft negative space is used to make the infographic easier to read and more successful.

Color as a Bonus

Color should be used as a bonus or at least with a purpose.  In this example color highlights the month with the highest product sales, so you instantly see which month is being discussed. Under the For More Information page I have additional articles discussing color to assist you.

Color as a Bonus

In the first draft everything is the same color and it all runs together. In the final draft, the designer used different colors to group together like items to help you be able to immediately be able to notice the categories in the business strategy.

References

Images from:

Nediger, Midori. "How to Make an Infographic in 5 Easy Steps -- Fast (2023 Guide)." Venngage, 10 Mar. 2023, https://venngage.com/blog/.