Infographics: Definition, Types, and How to Make

In the practice of visual communication design, information design is often represented by infographic design works. This is a work that combines information and graphics.

Infographic itself comes from the English word infographs which means information + graphics. This word refers to a form of information visualization that conveys complex information to readers so that it can be understood more easily and quickly.

To understand better, DailySocia.id will explain the following infographics to you!

Understanding Infographics

Infographics are information media presented in text form and combined with several visual elements such as pictures, illustrations, graphics, and typography.

Infographics or in English comes from the word infographic which is also very synonymous with the addition of information in the form of numbers wrapped in various attractive color combinations. This can make your content more interactive, aesthetic and attractive to readers.

Infographics are growing rapidly in mass media after designers are able to combine information from the news domain into visual forms that are printed or published on the internet.

Types of Infographics

There are several types of distribution of the infographic itself. Each distribution is adjusted to the content to be presented. Here are some explanations.

Lavender

The first type is a static visual format. When infographics are presented in a simple format without sound and moving animations. Static visual forms only provide representations in the form of pictures or illustrations that can explain the content or topic you are talking about.

This type of static infographic examples are usually used at conferences to present research findings or presentations to inform the audience in a clear and effective way. Presentation of data is simpler and less complicated with this method.

Animation

Another type is in the form of moving animation. The animation itself includes several important elements namely audio and visuals. Both are combined into a concept that fits your content or business needs.

This type of animation is also divided into two, namely two dimensions and three dimensions. Examples of this type of animated infographic can be found on the YouTube platform as well as on television. Many content creators use the YouTube platform to develop infographics.

Apart from YouTube, many digital players are currently using social media as a distribution platform for educational and commercial content. So, you can use various social media platforms to develop animated infographics.

Interactive

The latter type is a more complex infographic than the static and animated types. The basic difference lies in the target data which can directly interact with the data presented.

In this interactive format, you have to learn a programming language or you can also work with developers or programmers to create interactive media.

An example of an interactive infographic is the presentation of information that is displayed using several elements such as button or buttons. Thus, when tracked, it provides more information, and users can access information faster, more accurately, and more precisely.

How to Make Infographics

The next discussion, goes to the topic of how to structure the creation of an infographic. The following is a tutorial on developing an infographic media easily.

Determine the Topic of Discussion

The first step to creating an attractive infographic is to determine the original topic or purpose of the content based on the company's product needs. Before creating any design or layout, you must carefully prepare the initial concept while developing the idea.

Make sure you research the intended target. Then you also need to evaluate whether the infographic you are making has high relevance today or not. This can determine traffic in the future.

Determine Audience or Target Users

In the second step, you need to focus on the target audience according to content needs. You can also specify some item to define a specific audience. For example based on gender, age, occupation, education, place of residence.

By setting more specific goals, you can increase the success of your content campaigns, making them more relevant to the target audience they reach. The way of presenting young and old infographics is of course very different in terms of the structure of elements such as color, font, animation or illustration.

Collecting Data and Reference Sources

The third step, after successfully compiling the topic and determining the target group, the next step is to collect sources of information and references for content creation.

You can use different resources or platforms to find various information and insights via the internet, books, magazines, articles, and web-based information sources as well as original knowledge in the field. In this technological era, we can use various methods, not only conventional but also online.

Visualizing Data into Infographics

The next step is to implement the data in visual form so as to form a structured infographic structure. At this stage, we recommend you to use the ICCORE method.

You can implement the ICCORE (Inform, Compare, Change, Organize, Relationship, and Explore) method to visualize your data. Here are some descriptions of this method.

In shape

Make sure the data can convey important messages from the concept you are developing.

Compare

A data can be compared between one context and another context, can be in the form of bar charts, lines, and so on.

Change

In this category, content can contain changes to data, chronology, to stories about products, companies or personal brands from time to time.

Organize

Furthermore, this category is used to show information about rankingsuccessive patterns, or cycles. You can use diagrams flow chart, tables, and mind mapping.

Relationship

Next, data can also show more complex relationships in a context. Examples of its use can be scatter plots nor multi-series plots.

Explore

In the last category, users can explore or explore your infographic in more detail to add deeper insights.

Using Templates

Creating an infographic design from start to finish can be time consuming and resource consuming. However, this can be overcome by using various free templates that are presented on various website design platforms.

Templates make it easy for developers to create designs faster and they can effectively control all the elements and content used. After creating the template, make sure it also matches the grid structure you created earlier.

Adding Style to the Design

And the final step is to add shape styles to make a nice impression and enhance your infographic design. When creating styles, make sure to pay attention to all visual elements such as text, images, colors, buttons, and other elements to help readers understand the content.

Thus the discussion about what infographics are and the reasons why their use is very important for today's era. Infographics can come in handy anytime you need information quickly and easily understood.