Do this exercise. Pick up your phone and scroll through the posts you’ve saved. I bet a couple are infographics, a recipe, fitness plan or chart that explained something you hadn’t previously understood.
You didn’t save them for their beauty. They made your life easier.
That’s the underlying principle of the best infographic examples: they make information consumption easier, not harder. As you read this guide, we’ll explore the infographic formats that deliver on this promise, infographic design ideas that help these formats shine, and infographic design ideas common mistakes that put off potential readers. Before I close this introduction, though, I want to highlight what I think is the one infographic design tip most designers overlook: testing. We’ll visit it towards the last section, so I encourage you to stick with the guide.
What Makes a Good Infographic?
Ask ten designers what makes a good infographic and you’ll get ten answers. However, the advice tends to converge around a few principles.
- A single idea: The best infographic examples communicate one idea. If your infographic attempts to explain how much something costs, its history and how it works, your audience won’t remember any of the three. Instead, pick one and develop it exclusively.
- An intuitive visual flow: Your reader should intuitively know where their eyes should travel first, second and so on. You can accomplish this by making specific elements stand out through their size, color and spacing.
- Reliable, easy-to-read statistics: Your infographic’s data should be simple to interpret and properly attributed.
Keep these infographic design tips in mind as you read the infographic examples that follow. As you’ll see, all the best infographic examples adhere to them.
Infographic Examples by Format
Your choice of infographic format is critical. It should align with what you’re trying to accomplish. Below are the best infographic examples by format, alongside infographic design ideas that bring out each one’s strengths.
Statistical Infographic Examples
Numerical data is compelling, but it needs the right vehicle to be effective. A statistical infographic gives this information a face and a voice. It could be a clinic that’s seen double the appointments since its website relaunch or a retail store that wants to show its sales performance across seasons in a simple bar chart.
How to Design a Statistical Infographic
Make one figure, the one your infographic is about, stand out by displaying it in large, bold text. The supporting statistics, the ones that give context to the stand-out figure, should be smaller. This way, anyone scanning your infographic will immediately know what it’s about.
Timeline Infographic Examples
Every organization has a story, and a timeline infographic is the perfect tool to tell it. This infographic type has a spine, a horizontal line, with markers placed along it at regular intervals. Each marker represents a specific date, usually one that highlights an achievement or change, and should be labeled clearly. They work particularly well with company histories, launch timelines and project roadmaps, as a visual aid that shows where you are in a process or where you’re headed.
How to Design a Timeline Infographic
Place intervals far apart, use years, if possible and label them clearly. Next, decide what should go in-between them. A single word or icon can often say more than a paragraph of text.
Process Infographic Examples
Asking a customer how a certain process works can lead to a rambling explanation. However, breaking this process down into numbered steps and illustrating it with arrows is far cleaner and more intuitive. A process infographic is commonly used across industries to explain onboarding, show how things work, or help customers understand how their request will be handled from receipt to delivery. They’re extremely useful when someone keeps asking the same “how do I…” question.
How to Design a Process Infographic
Divide your infographic into numbered steps and illustrate how they connect using arrows.
Comparison Infographic Examples
Humans have a natural affinity for comparison. A comparison infographic makes it easy to evaluate two or three products or concepts against one another. Use rows to represent a feature or category, and fill in each with information relevant to that particular feature. Use colors to differentiate between the options and end each row with a recommendation, such as “Best for X.”
Business Infographic Examples That Build Trust
Many of the best infographic examples are found in the business world. Annual report summaries, services overviews, customer journey maps and industry fact sheets: all can be compelling when delivered as an infographic. The most successful business infographic examples have one thing in common: they educate first and persuade second. The same goes for infographic examples in marketing: most people aren’t going to save or share your infographic if it’s overtly promotional.
Before publishing any infographic you intend to share publicly, ask yourself: would someone unfamiliar with our services or products still find this infographic valuable? If yes, it’s a keeper.
Infographic Examples for Students and Teachers
An infographic is ideal in a class setting. Whether you’re looking for infographic examples to explain biology, English literature or trigonometry, a student infographic can condense lengthy chapters or sections into a single page, while making the information far more accessible and less intimidating to consume. Educational infographic examples include the life cycle of a butterfly, a chronological overview of the freedom struggle, or the differences between plant and animal cells. When creating infographic examples for students, use simple colors, keep sentences short, and avoid cluttering the page.
The infographic design ideas for beginners are also worth noting, as many will come in handy for teachers new to infographic creation. Start small: five facts, three steps or a single life cycle make excellent beginner-friendly infographic examples that are easy to execute. Fortunately, there is also infographic design software that can help take some of the guesswork out of this process, particularly when it comes to formatting and layout.
Creative Infographic Examples Worth Stealing From
After picking a format and choosing a design that supports this format’s strengths, you can level up by stealing from the best infographic examples. A creative infographic could take the form of a vertical infographic that looks like a glass of water for a hydration tracker, or a scrollable infographic that tells a story much like a comic strip.
One thing to keep in mind when creating these creative infographic examples is: don’t sacrifice clarity for the sake of creativity. If someone says your infographic is nice but they have no idea what it’s about, you need to rethink your approach.
Infographic Examples for Social Media
Social media users have short attention spans, so your infographic needs to capture theirs immediately. The best infographic examples for social media use square or vertical dimensions, large text and one idea per image. Carousels are also a popular choice because they allow the user to swipe from one infographic to the next easily.
Infographic Examples for Presentations
A presentation infographic serves a different purpose than one designed for social media or a website. Presentations are viewed from a distance, so text size and contrast are even more important. Your infographic should have minimal text and large, easy-to-read statistics in order to capture the eye of someone sitting at the back of the room.
Infographic Design Ideas That Always Work
Regardless of the infographic format you pick, these infographic design ideas will help you create a compelling design.
- Use three to four colors that reflect your brand: This ensures visual consistency throughout your design. The colors should also contrast one another so that small text is still readable against a larger background.
- Create a hierarchy through size: Your infographic’s most important element, usually the main idea, should be the biggest and easiest to read. The fine print should be the smallest.
- Give your infographic room to breathe: White space is important because it lets your eyes rest between paragraphs or sections. It also creates the illusion that your infographic is easier to read.
- Pick one icon style and run with it: Don’t mix and match different icon sets. Choose one that reflects your brand and use it consistently throughout.
- Always include a source for your statistics: Even if you’re compiling public data, it’s important to acknowledge the original source.
One infographic design tip I’m going to share with you now is something many designers forget: testing. A designer should always test an infographic with someone who hasn’t seen it before and ask this person to describe the infographic’s main point. If this person hesitates, the designer knows they need to tweak their design.
Want Infographics That Actually Bring Customers?
A good infographic template can only take you so far. Infographics that actually build a business require a different approach, one that focuses on audience, platform and conversion. That’s the work we do every day, as a full-service digital marketing and branding agency. We’ve been serving businesses based in Madurai since 2016 and expanded to Chennai in 2018. Today, we assist organizations across Tamil Nadu, India and overseas with digital marketing, SEO, marketing automation, web development and customer experience. If you need a digital marketing agency in Chennai or branding team in Madurai, you can explore our full suite of services at reachskyline.com.
What clients like most about working with us:
- Performance-led quality: Everything we create, from visuals and campaigns to website content and SEO, is geared towards achieving a specific objective, such as generating more leads, driving more foot traffic or boosting brand recall.
- Audience-first approach: We invest time and energy in building a strategy around your budget rather than relying on generic templates or recycled ideas.
Across industries, from healthcare and real estate to education and retail, we’ve learned that the customer acquisition funnel is remarkably similar in terms of psychology. If you’re looking for more marketing tips, you can explore our blog.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Are the Best Infographic Examples for Beginners?
A few facts, a three-step process or a five-quick-facts poster are a few good places to start. They’re simple to design using infographic design software or with free online tools.
What Makes a Good Infographic?
A good infographic has one dominant idea, an intuitive flow that guides the reader, and reliable, easy-to-read statistics. If a stranger can read your infographic and understand it within seconds, it’s a good infographic.
Which Infographic Format Is Best for Showing Statistics?
A statistical infographic is ideal for showcasing statistics. Make sure to highlight one stand-out figure, ideally in large, bold text, and support it with simple charts or icons.
How Do I Design Infographics for Social Media?
Always use square or vertical dimensions, large, easy-to-read text, and one idea per image. Carousel is one popular option since it allows the user to swipe between images and read more.
How Many Colors Should an Infographic Use?
Limit an infographic to three to four colors that reflect your brand and have a good contrast with one another.
Can Reach Skyline Create Custom Infographics for My Business?
Yes, we can. Our branding and creative team designs a range of visual collateral including infographics, social media posts and brand visuals for businesses in Madurai, Chennai and India, as well as international clients.
Conclusion
An infographic is ultimately a promise to the consumer: “this will be simple to understand.” Fulfill this promise by always focusing on one dominant idea, the right infographic format and a design that helps your audience consume the information effortlessly, and you’ll see your audience rewarding you by sharing and saving your infographic. Start with the infographic format that suits your needs, test it on a real person and continue to improve. The infographic examples above should provide inspiration. However, if you’re looking for a team that can help you create these infographic examples, you can reach out to us at Reach Skyline. Our clients remain with us because we speak plainly, deliver on promises, and treat every brand as if it were our own.