LibGuides UFV: Data Visualization: Infographics

Designing Infographics

This infographic employs all of the best visualization practices discussed by David McCandless: it uses information from a reliable source (data) to tell a story (concept) about child poverty among aboriginal and non-aboriginal populations in Canada (purpose) using a map of Canada as a metaphor.

blue infographic of provinces showing child poverty rates in canada by province, distinguishing between indigenous and non-indigenous children.
"From Bad to Worse: Child Poverty Rates in Canada" by Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is licensed under CC BY 3.0

In Designing an Infographic? 5 Elements You Must Include, Carrie Cousins lists the following:

A succinct, solid data story - your data needs to be meaningful and easy to see and understand.
Visual style and flow, which can be achieved through colour, consistency, scale, and readability.
Typography palette with hierarchy - make the text easy to scan, use a novelty font to draw the eye to titles or big numbers, and use variations (bold, italic, colour) of the same font for impact.
Plenty of space - white space helps the viewer/reader process the information more easily and highlight the most important data.
Call to action - get your readers to help spread the word.

For more tips and best practices, see the following:

Intriguing study reveals the secrets of successful infographics
Summarizes the findings of "largest scale visualization study to date." They wanted to understand what makes a visualization memorable. Hint ... it's not bar charts and graphs. Color and images, especially images with "lots of circles and rounded corner graphics" were highly memorable.
The do’s and don’ts of infographic design
Provides tips on designing infographics, including advice on organization, font, colour and layout.
The do’s and don’ts of infographic design: Revisited
Responds to the previous article and emphasizes the importance of presenting data accurately and clearly.

Easelly
The drag-and-drop format makes this an ideal tool for novice users to create their first infographics.
Infoactive
This is another drag-and-drop resource especially designed for creating interactive and mobile-friendly infographics. Users are limited to creating two free infographics without having to pay for a subscription.
Piktochart
Piktochart allows users to create infographics that can be shared on the web, social media and apps such as Slideshare. There are free online articles and tutorials; the service is free, but sign-up is required.
Visme
This free beta tool provides an add-and-drop interface for creating infographics, charts, graphs, and other forms of presentation. Visme also provides a support site for novice users.

Selected Book Titles

Cool Infographics
Call Number: E-book
Envisioning Information
Call Number: P 93.5 T84 1990
Infographics by Jason Lankowm, Ross Crooks & Josh Ritchie
Call Number: E-book
Publication Date: 2012
Visual Explanations by Edward R. Tufte
Call Number: P 93.5 T846 1997
Publication Date: 1997

Data Visualization: Infographics

What is an infographic?

Designing Infographics

Selected Book Titles