Human beings have a tendency to respond to visual data better than written data. Human brains love visuals over anything. On average, about 90% of the information transmitted to the brain is visual (1). It can process visuals 60,000 times faster than words (1). This speed actually denotes that our brain not only loves it but also processes it very fast. This nature of the brain can be used in many different ways. Communication, education and marketing can be done with visual elements to reach a wider audience. 

If you want to use the visual processing ability of the brain, then you must try out infographics. Many have already used infographics and have reaped multiple benefits from them. If you are interested to know more about it, continue reading this article. We have loaded information about infographics. We have explained their importance, types and how to use them. We have also included a guide, where you can know how to create a perfect infographic.

WHAT ARE INFOGRAPHICS?

Infographics in simple words mean a visual image or a design that explains information or data. An infographic will contain charts or graphs with minimal text. The primary motto of using an infographic is to make the audience easy to understand. Even complex information provided in the form of infographics will be easy to understand. 

IMPORTANCE OF INFOGRAPHICS

The below-mentioned are the reasons why the best infographics are very crucial,

Seeks Attention Faster

Infographics grab the attention of the viewer relatively faster than normal text will. But the key here is to infographics design with vibrant colors and crisp information. This kind of infographic is loved by people because the designs are attractive to look at and the information is easy to understand. Hence an infographic are one of the visual communication tools that many business use to grab attention. 

Proves Expertise

Infographics scream professionalism. For example, imagine that you are scrolling social media. There is a post or a photo with no images or graphics. It just has texts written over it. Then, in the next post, you see some graphics elements, beautiful colors and short text. Now, which will look professional. The second post right? Likewise, an infographic will make the audience think that the post is giving thought to design. Efforts have been taken to make it look great. Hence infographics will prove to the audience that you have a great team full of experts working. It will earn trust.

Easily Understandable

Since human brains have a tendency to process visual elements faster. No matter how hard the information is. If you say it in the form of infographics. The audience is going to understand it more easily. People look at any social media post for less than a second. If it is attractive then they take a couple of more seconds to see what it actually says. So if you have some charts, flow diagrams and some other elements it will make it easily understandable. The more you understand the more you connect. Hence infographics are a win here. 

Increases Brand Value

Whenever you are making infographics with great designs. It makes the customer perceive your brand in a great way. They will think that you have great knowledge about something. It will make them think that you are great at expressing it in an easily understandable way. It will eventually increase the value of the brand. 

Easily shareable

A study shows that a social media post that has attractive visual elements is more shareable. Attractive visuals are 40 times more shared than very normal posts. Thus people who find it attractive will share it. There is a high chance that your infographics can get viral as well. 

TYPES OF INFOGRAPHICS

There are many infographics types that you can opt for. You can choose a type of infographic based on the information that you want to provide. The following are the types of infographics,

List Infographics

A list infographic should contain short and crisp points that are listed. This can be used to list the product claims, important points or features. This can be also used in educational-based presentations. In those, you can add short sentences or phrases that will be easier to get the concepts. This type of infographic will have more text than the other types. But it does not mean that there will not be any visual elements. They will have elements that will make the image attractive in addition to the pointers. 

Statistical Infographics

Statistical infographics are the most attractive type of infographics. They usually get more attention from the audience. They involve graphs. The graphs can be pie charts, bar graphs, line graphs and so on. Anything that will be suitable for the content. It can be used to show the results of a survey or research. It can also be used to denote the growth of an organization or any other thing. Graphs are usually included in any research articles or even in books to make the survey easily understandable. Hence statistical infographics are one of the best that you can opt for. 

How to-Infographics

As the name says, through these infographics you can how to do a particular thing. It can be anything. From recipes to maths problems, How to- infographics can be used to explain a procedure. This will help the audience to understand the procedure very easily. You can add steps to make it easier to understand. These are usually used in companies, educational institutes or public places to explain how to do something. 

Timeline Infographics

Timeline Infographics are yet another very important type of infographic. It can be used to explain the growth or progress of something with respect to time. It is the best type to explain history in chronological order. You can explain the evolution of something with this type of infographic. 

Comparison Infographics

Comparison infographics are used to distinguish or show the similarities between two things. You can use this to point out the difference or similarities between your products and your competitor’s products. You can also involve elements like graphs and listicles to make the type more understandable and informative. 

Map or Location Infographics

This type of infographic will be useful to depict the location of an organisation. It can also be used to denote the places on a map. This is useful to convey geographical information. If you want to convey a specific thing about a specific place this can be useful. It is also used widely in education-based infographics. 

Process Description Infographics 

This type of infographic is used in companies. They use this to explain a manufacturing procedure or programming procedure. This will involve a lot of technical and complex steps. For example, Bioprocess industries usually use this type of infographic to present their procedure. Their procedure is very complex, process description infographics are very helpful for them.

SIGNS OF GOOD INFOGRAPHICS

If your infographics have the following signs, then keep your heads up. You have created a great infographic.  

It is vibrant and chic

If your infographic has some amazing colours and also if it looks polished, your infographics are amazing. Vibrancy will grab the attention of the audience. Elegance will make it look professional.

It tells a story

One of the common mistakes that people do while designing an infographic is not keeping it comprehensive. Since infographics have short texts, people miss out on connecting them with each other. A good infographic must complete a piece of information or tell a story beautifully without missing out on anything. 

It is well-organized

Since you add many visual elements and charts to an infographic, chances are high that it will be cluttered. If it is cluttered, people may not understand it properly. Sometimes it can confuse or irritate them. But if you have created a clean and organized infographic, then you created a great infographic. 

It should have minimal texts

Sometimes it is a common mistake that people do. They involve many pieces of text to explain something. But it should not be the case. If your infographics have fewer texts then it is a great design. 

It has your brand identity

Whenever you are creating an infographic, it must have a watermark or logo. It will make sure that the piece you created, will not be used by someone without any credits. It will also make sure that your brand will get registered in the audience mindset. Hence a brand identity must always be added.

The above-mentioned are the signs of a good infographic. If yours is not up to the mark, there is nothing to worry about. Take notes, try it, make mistakes and learn from it till you create a great infographic. 

GUIDE TO MAKING GOOD INFOGRAPHICS

If you are confused about making an infographic, we are here to help. Follow the steps explained to create a good infographic.

Step 1: Choose a Designing Tool (or) Software

The first thing that will be needed to create an infographic is to choose good software. There are many designing software available right now. Some of them are free as well. Some of them are paid. Go through each software and see which is suitable for you. Choose one that has as many visual elements as you will like. It should also be easy to use as well. Even the paid ones have free trials. Try all the software once and then choose. 

Some of the best Designing tools are,

• Adobe Creative Cloud Express
• Canva
• Fotor
• Snappa
• Venngage
• Visme
• Piktochart
• Infogram
• Easel.ly
• BeFunky 

Step 2: Set a Concept for Infographics

An infographic is an image that will explain information. So every infographic will need a concept or a goal. Explaining with one of the infographics examples, How to make pizza? This can be an idea or concept for an infographic. Likewise, you need to fix an idea for every infographic. This can be based on your niche as well. This idea or concept has to be innovative as well. It can also be an idea that is rarely spoken about. Come up with creative and unique concepts. This will be appreciated. 

Step 3: Research and Collect Information

Once you have chosen a concept or an idea, spend some time and collect information on it. You must provide authentic information on the topic that you have chosen. Make sure that you do not provide wrong information as it can make your organisation look shady. You must have complete information on the concept to make an infographic. 

Step 4: Select a Suitable Template

Once your concept and information are ready, it’s time to choose a suitable template. The software and tools nowadays have thousands of templates. Choose a template that will suit the concept the most. It must also scream the brand identity. The fonts, styles and colours can be altered in almost all the templates. If nothing suits your wish, then create the design from a blank page. 

Step 5: Design the Infographic

Once everything is decided, it’s time to create the final design. Try different fonts, colours and styles. See which suits the most. You can add visual elements to it. Add your brand logo or identity as well. If you wish you can draw your vision on a piece of paper. It will give you a clear picture. Then it will be easy for you to replicate the same on the infographic. Based on the concept that you have chosen, the designing time can differ. 

Step 6: Final Check

Once you have created the infographic, you must quality-check it before releasing it on the main platform. Just show it to your colleagues, and ask them whether they can understand it. A good infographic will tell complete information or a story. Keep in mind that you are the creator of the infographic. So you will anyway know the entire concept behind it. So when you see it, you may think that it is understandable. You need to show it to other people, who have less or no idea about it. If they understand it easily then you are good to go.

HOW DO INFOGRAPHICS BENEFIT BUSINESSES?

Infographics benefit businesses in three main ways. They are as follows,

It makes the complex process easily understandable

A business will have some manufacturing and marketing procedures. It may seem very complex to some of the staff. In those cases, opting for an infographic will help the staff to understand the concept easily. As a brand, sometimes you are bound to explain some processes to customers as well. One of the examples of infographics is, how a cream will reverse the sign of ageing. This needs to be understood by customers at least superficially to buy the product. Like how the ingredients basically work. This is the area where businesses get benefitted from infographics. 

Increase Engagement

Since infographics are easily understandable, many people will engage with them. Infographics are highly shareable on social media as well. This can increase the brand value and it can also increase sales. 

Improve SEO

When infographics have much useful information, it will have a positive effect on your SEO. Usually, infographics are in the form of images. Images usually rank higher. Hence if you create a good infographic you will get higher ranks in the search. Thus, it will have a positive effect on business. 

CONCLUSION

Human brains love to process visual information. It will process visual images much faster than text. This nature of the brain can be used in many different ways. Communication, education and marketing can be done with visual elements to reach a wider audience. Infographics are the visual representation of any information. There are many types of infographics. You can choose a type of infographic based on the concept that you are choosing. There are some signs that make a good infographic which are listed in the article. We have also explained how to create a good infographic step by step. These infographics will help benefit businesses in many ways. 

FAQs

1. What is an infographic?

Infographics are visual representations of a concept or information. 

2. How infographics will benefit businesses?

There are three ways how an infographic will benefit the business,

• Infographics will make the business concepts easily understandable for the staff.
• It increases engagement on social media.
• It will help with SEO.

3. How a good infographic must look?

A good infographic will have the following traits,

• A good infographic must look great and neat. 
• It must tell a complete piece of information.
•  It must be easily understandable as well. 

4. What are tools available to design infographics?

There are many free and paid tools available for designing infographics. They are,

• Canva
• Fotor
• Snappa
• Venngage
• Visme

5. Do we need any prior experience in designing an infographic?

Yes, some prior experience in graphic design can be helpful. But even without experience, you can perform well with creativity.