Infographics: The Power of Visual Storytelling

EDITORIAL INFOGRAPHIC PRODUCTION

This section will walk you through the typical production of an editorial infographic—from idea to design, and everything in between. Figure 4.7 shows how the process works, in short.

Figure 4.7: Editorial Infographic Production Process.

WHERE DO IDEAS COME FROM?

The entire process starts with a good idea. Your brand’s goals are largely what determine how that infographic is produced. While not mutually exclusive, we like to think of goals as fitting into different buckets, each with their own approach. For example, the tone for an infographic intended to establish a client’s position as a thought leader on a given subject or industry would be different than that for a client hoping to create some virality or simply generate web traffic. The goals have everything to do with the audience that the brand is trying to reach, and what they want to do once they have their attention. Do they want to make them laugh? Or do they want to educate them? Admittedly, you can sometimes do both; it’s just not always that easy. Less is usually more when it comes to goals, since they tend to be on divergent paths—and it’s imperative to keep the vision clear and consistent.

As such, you should choose the information to include in your infographic with your specific goals in mind. We’ve found that people usually get ideas for infographics from one of several sources. ...