Infographics in Web Design

There has been a design revolution among web designers that has grown in popularity in recent years, and that is the awesome information tool the infographic. For those few of you who may not have come across an infographic before and are wondering what exactly it is, they are simply graphical ways of explaining data or information clearly and concisely.

They can be brilliant ways of conveying what would normally be relatively boring facts and figures in a novel and interesting format; hence, their use has exploded.

While most infographics are created as one-off pieces used to display a particular set of data, web designers have recently jumped on the bandwagon, meaning an increasing trend of entire websites have been designed around this popular format. They use bold typography and clear graphics to get their point across brilliantly.

Many web development services will offer the possibility of designing your website in an infographic style, but what about if you want to create your own?

Here are some rules you must follow to make sure you make the best out of it.

Typography is the art of arranging letters and words to make the language you are conveying visible; the term has also grown to commonly convey the art of making your words appear as aesthetically pleasing as possible. Infographics tend to, but not always, use bold, strong typefaces that stand out from the background.

Nearly all infographics include some visuals of one kind or another, be it standard pie charts, graphs or something entirely new. Here is where you can be creative. Whatever style you choose, make sure the information is displayed in a transparent manner that does not require overly studying the figures to understand.

Colour is important when designing anything; you must think about your colour scheme before you start designing anything. Above all, make sure that the important information on display can be differentiated from the background, and remember to check whether your design is consistent throughout.

Last but not least, avoid clutter! This is where a lot of people fall when designing infographics; in this case, less is more. You only have a limited amount of space in most cases, so information must be displayed clearly and concisely. If the information has to fit in a small space, place a border between it and its neighbouring statistic. The key here is to maintain enough space so that each chunk of information can be read one piece at a time.

So there you go. You know the rules; now make your own.