A map might be the best way to tell the story. It might require a diagram or flowchart to explain a process. The best approach might be with traditional charts and graphs (bar, line, pie charts). There are endless ways to represent information. This is not the ultimate design but a tool for discussion, enabling agreement on the structure the final piece will take. Here, the designer builds an understandable visual representation of the important information and its hierarchy to send to the client for review. Once the data has been combed, the most interesting facts selected, and a hierarchy determined, a wireframe is created. At this stage, the picture of a final product will begin to appear. This becomes a kind of mood board of research points. Supporting elements are then arranged to tell the rest of the story. Once you find it, it becomes a way to organize the project and solidifies the hierarchical structure of the infographic. This piece of data will make your jaw drop. In almost any piece of research, there is a “hero” that leads the story. This aggressive behavior, not car color, is the undisclosed reason that accident rates are affected. Aggressive personality types are shown to prefer the color red. But the true story is found in a hidden connection, known as the confounding variable. This truth may (incorrectly) imply that car color somehow causes driving accidents. #Infographic design drivers#For example, drivers who own red cars are twice as likely to get into accidents than drivers who own blue cars. Data has a way of winning a debate, whether an argument is true or not. The truth in information takes experience to uncover. In more subjective situations (color, typography, etc.), it is harder for a designer to win battles, but in these situations the designer’s careful eye for detail is obvious in the data–and often appreciated. Pushing back on a client’s original idea can be a frustrating moment. Having studied the topic for several days, the designer is a valuable guide to discovering more accurate narratives and presenting them. is the next step is a collaborative reworking of the story and the data. The data doesn’t lie, and good clients do not want to blatantly mislead. It quickly becomes evident that this pathway is futile for everyone. Sometimes a client will want the designer to use only the facts that make them look good, twist the data, or otherwise get around this snag. What follows is usually a slightly awkward discussion. In many cases, the data doesn’t support the story a client wants to tell. Identifying problemsĪs a story emerges from the data at hand, it’s time to stop for a reality check. Now that the data is familiar, does it seem possible to tell this story with the information at hand? Are you interested in the subject matter? Is this a compelling story worth telling? 4. Finding a great narrative is the first hurdle. It might be clarifying a complex set of data, explaining a process, highlighting a trend, or supporting some kind of argument. What starts as boring data will become a boring infographic unless a great story can be found. Designers who make infographics are adept at spotting holes in the data, ensuring that no important information has been missed, and making sure the facts support the story being told. Nothing feels worse than working hard on a project, then seeing it picked apart because you didn’t connect the dots. Either your client will realize this during the process, or the audience will point it out once the project is complete. Single pieces of information in an ecosystem of research can skew the big picture. While it’s tempting to read only the highlighted facts and skim the rest, this shortcut tends to result in more time wasted later. #Infographic design full#The full picture of a story is usually found scattered through multiple materials, not in isolated charts alone. This is also when we begin to gather additional research from new sources. While there is sometimes guidance–“We’d like to compare the charts on pages 12 and 65”–we take this as a clue to find the story being told. It arrives raw and messy: an excel spreadsheet, some PDFs and links to other resources are typical. Sifting through data is where it all begins. Here’s how we go about creating an infographic in ten steps: 1. Over the last decade, Hyperakt has come to specialize in this type of design, and we’ve found a process that works for us.
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