Designing an Infographic is more than art these days, so, if you want to make a lasting impression on your target audience and compel them to stop and read, here are certain design rules for you to follow.
Every human brain searches for a proper visual cue to latch onto and suck the required essential information from a marketing missive. That is the reason why we marketers have taken to disseminating our brand message through materials that are visually attractive yet informative. And there we have infographics- an incredible form of communication and brand promotion.
But designing an infographic is sometimes challenging. On the one hand, such a communication material takes in all textual information and converts it into an easy to read piece. While on the other hand, it must have an element of interest and which is achieved by making an infographic highly visual coupled with texts and graphics.
We know creativity knows no bounds, yet to make a marketing communication material impressive going by infographic design rules play a pivotal role. Whether you like it or not, if you don’t follow specific rules, chances are you might mess up with the entire creativity and won’t derive the desired result.
Stroke The Finishing Touches To Your Infographic With These 5 Design Rules
Here we have listed a few graphic design principles, use them and craft a beautiful memorable infographic.
Design Rule 1: Focus On Using Simple Combinations Of Primary Colors
We create an infographic to present complex information in a simple way. So, if we use complicated colors to design an infographic, it becomes tough for your audience to grasp whatever you want to convey.
Here we have listed a few color combination examples that you can use in your infographics. You can even take inspiration from the color palette used in the road signs. Understand how the simple design becomes eye-catching.
Once you comprehend the clear logic of why a graphic designer chooses the color primaries, you will be designing effective Infographic.
Let’s see what it means (psychologically) to use the following:
For example, using the color Yellow conveys to the audience to take notice of your infographic.
Orange tells the audience that one must look at the missive.
While Red catches our attention fast and thus urges the audience to stop whatever they’re doing and read the infographic now.
So, now you can understand how vital it is to use simple colors arranged by importance. In addition to that, you can also decipher the real meaning of each color.
Also, there’s an interesting rule; if it becomes tricky for you to choose the right colors from the color palette, you can stick to the ‘rule of three.’
Pick out three primary colors: You can use a light hue as a background and two more for the base of your infographic and in your headings.
According to Venngage, you can also use four colors at the most. Venngage presents its own graphic design rules. They speak about different types of color schemes, such as using monochrome, adjacent and tetradic.
To conclude, according to infographic design rules, use as few colors as possible. But if you wish to add another color, it should be logical. There needs to be a reason behind it; for instance, the other color would separate a piece of data from the others.
Design Rule 2: WhiteSpace Is A Fundamental Element in Infographic Design
Among all Infographic design elements, whitespace or negative space is a fundamental element.
Just imagine, would you go through a creative piece that is cluttered with unneccessary designs? It’s a known fact- in the age of low attention span, it’s essential to present a marketing missive that is a treat to your audience’s eye.
If you want your infographic to pique your readers’ interest, it’s essential to take notice of the visual arrangements in Infographic design.
Include information you want to display along with graphics that complement your texts and then use negative space to lead your reader from one point to another until they conclude.
The amount of space you use around each design element lets your reader prioritize what to read first; they were to proceed in the infographic.
According to layout and composition in graphic design, elements surrounded by negative space get special attention. They are set apart from the other components in the document. One of the most significant benefits of using negative space is it ensures all your elements are aligned in the right way.
Appropriate use of white space helps you structure your data and convince your readers to take the information you want them to know.
In infographics, balance and harmony in the design are essential. Needless to say, you don’t want your audience to get overwhelmed with too much information. So cutting out anything likely to bore your readers will bring in wonderful results.
Design Rule 3: Pick Any Three Quality Fonts To Create Appealing Infographics
One of the significant Infographic design rules – go by reducing the use of texts while planning an Infographic.
We have always seen that using too much text deviates the actual purpose of creating infographics. You might consider using texts in the title, headings and few captions. However, it is also essential to keep in mind that typography can make or break the design of any type.
But the bottom-line of the story is, you need to select attention-grabbing typography. People naturally won’t prefer clicking on infographics that have uninteresting typos.
So you have the scope of showing your magic in the title section. It’s the perfect place where you can use fascinating fonts that serve as a visual metaphor for your data. But make sure not to use fonts that distract your viewers from the data.
Next comes your body font, make sure to keep this area readable and straightforward. And keep the decorative fonts for headers only.
Finally, there’s the accent font; this is one ideal for captions and subheadings. These fonts are something in between like they are nor fully decorative font, neither they are too simple.
Design Rule 4: Establish Symmetrical and Asymmetrical Balance
When you design marketing communicative materials like infographics, it’s essential to create a visual balance. A balanced infographic has the potentiality of keeping the entire structure cohesive.
According to hierarchy in design, placing heavier visuals on the top of an infographic requires you to maintain the flow till the bottom of the creative. Then to achieve a highly appealing design, establish symmetrical and asymmetrical balance.
Symmetrical balance puts equal weight to the composition. Such a layout is effective for comparison infographics.
On the contrary, asymmetrical balance is less uniform compared to symmetrical composition. Adding such a balance, your infographic becomes more dynamic since there are no repetitions. An asymmetrical balance builds a complicated relationship between objects.
Design Rule 5: Using The Right Layout Makes Your Infographic Popular
Choosing the right layout for your infographic is one of the most crucial infographic design rules. There are different types of layout in Infographic design, pick the one that best suits you.
If you are creating a minimal infographic, use one column layout. Otherwise, two-column layouts also do justice to your creative piece.
What is an infographic layout?
An infographic layout is the arrangement of the visual elements and contents. An infographic always tells a story and hence, you need to select a layout that best suits your story.
Picking up the ideal layout ensure good readability and convey your message well.
Here’s a list of some of the most common types of layouts:
- Useful Bait Layout: Such a layout works well with most types of data. Rather than focusing on design, it makes it easier for viewers to read. If your infographic includes several contents like too much of subtopics, use bait to aggregate them into fresh chunks that are easy to consume.
- Versus/Comparison Layout: This layout is typically split vertically to give a clear side-by-side comparison. Use such a layout when you want to present your readers with differences/similarities between the two items you are comparing. To give this layout maximum effect, use “bullet point” information.
- Heavy Data: This layout works well if you are using a lot of statistics and charts. Connect different points of your data by inserting a flowchart.
- Road Map: A road map layout brings in maximum results if you want to visualize your process or tell a story. Such a layout presents good connectivity for your story or process flow. To make it more compelling, use thumbnails in smaller quantities to accompany your data.
- Timeline: Are you planning a history/chronological events infographic? Go for a timeline layout. Companies use this layout to create an annual report or presenting their accomplishments and milestones.
- Visualized Article: Complex data or a lengthy story can be taken care of using compelling visuals. A visualized article layout puts the right focus on your visuals, not the text. Build your content separately into chunks, then include a strong title for each and share them on social media.
Take Away
Graphic designing has come a long way and with continuous advancement in technology and it will continue to see more progression. When you are planning an infographic, you may go haywire when you come across various constant artistic developments (though sounds cliché).
Luckily, the design rules make the entire process a lot easier. From the above guidance, we are sure you can draw inspiration and apply the ideas in your next creations.
However, if you are in doubt, ask someone like us. We, Infographic Design Team are your digital partner who takes care of your branding needs. We create infographics for you that seamlessly convert your web traffic into leads & then into final customers. Choose us to amplify your branding.
