What makes an eye catching infographic captivating? How do you approach a layout packed full of info without overwhelming your reader?
I started this infographic design during the peak of a caffeine buzz. It was my way of teaching my Aunt and Uncle how to use their new Aeropress. I’ve made a number of infographics over this past year for both clients and personal projects and found a few consistent principles that remain true. In this post I’ll dive into my process and discuss key topics like, choice in reference, the blockout phase, guiding the reader’s eye, and style.
Reference
During the concept phase, I envisioned a recipe in a handwritten journal with a limited color palette and sketchy illustrations. After spending a few, too many, hours scrolling through Pinterest, I came across work from artists like Rebecca Blair, Eva-Lotta Lamm, Samuel Taylor. I was drawn to Rebecca Blair’s use of typography and hierarchy etched into her moleskin journals. Eva-Lotta Lamm specializes in conveying complex ideas through sketching. She also tends to use a limited color palette. I was also inspired by the cute, whimsical style of Samuel Taylor’s adorable D&D illustrations. After taking some reference photos of my own Aeropress, I was ready to start sketching.
Sketch it Out, Block it Out
I wrote down each step of the brewing process and began sketching out my thoughts. I can’t stress enough how important it is to sketch out your ideas. I made a fatal mistake in the early stages of this infographic. I had sketched out a few individual elements, like the blooming flower, but I forgot to sketch the most important part, the actual layout. Getting ahead of myself, I eagerly jumped into Illustrator. It wasn’t long before I felt I had lost direction. After getting helpful input from my partner, I went back to pencil and paper to establish a solid block out. I wanted my Aeropress guide to have an organic feel. So, I stuck with round, fluid silhouettes. The left side has a sunrise theme and the right feels more like spilled coffee and mugs.
Guiding the Reader’s Eye
Blocking out the silhouettes helps plan a solid composition. When laying out an infographic, hierarchy, rhythm and movement, and white space have been my guiding forces. I went with orange, a vibrant and energetic color, to grab the viewer’s attention and serve as a visual cue for where to look next. I also established a sense of movement by creating consistent lines of action for both pages. If I’ve done my job right, the audience will instinctually follow these lines of action to the next group of info.
Stylized Consistency
The style you choose will set the tone of the infographic. The design to the left was completed for Oikocredit US. The content and tone for this project differs greatly from my Aeropress guide. The corporate feel comes from the on brand color palette and orderly layout. If I had mixed Oikocredit’s color palette into the Aeropress guide, everything would start to feel off, even to the untrained eye.
The guide really came together after I found a crayon brush pack by Spoon Graphics. I highly recommend trying them out for yourself. To ensure my design was consistent, I used the same family of strokes and fonts for each element. If you stray too far from the established style, different elements of the piece will begin to feel unrelated.
TL;DR
Always look for reference that successfully implements the elements you want to capture in your final piece. Remember to sketch and block out everything, especially your layout. Keep the fundamental principles of design in mind and pay special attention to hierarchy, rhythm and movement, and white space to effectively guide the reader’s eye. Last, but not least, stick to a consistent style to ensure everything feels related to the larger piece as a whole.