How to plan an infographic

Most weak infographics fail before anyone opens a design tool. The layout is fine, the colors are fine, and the piece still doesn't say anything, because nobody decided what it was supposed to say. Planning fixes that. It takes four steps: write the message, decide who it is for, gather and check the data, and sketch the order of ideas.

Write the message in one sentence

Before you pick a chart or a color, write down the single sentence you want a reader to remember. Not the topic ("smartphones") but a claim ("Nine in ten American adults now own a smartphone, up from one in three in 2011").

A good message sentence has three things:

1. A subject the reader cares about.
2. A specific finding, usually with a number.
3. Something that changes, compares or surprises.

If you can't write that sentence, you aren't ready to design. Go back to the data. If you end up with three sentences that don't depend on each other, you have three infographics, or one long piece with three clearly separated sections.

The message sentence also becomes your working headline. It may get shorter and punchier later, but it keeps every design decision honest. When you wonder whether a chart belongs, ask whether it supports that sentence.

Decide who it is for and where they'll see it

The same data makes a different infographic for a commuter scrolling a phone and for a manager reading a printed report. Write down:

• Who the reader is. What do they already know? A finance audience doesn't need "inflation" explained; a general audience may need to know which inflation measure you mean.
• Why they would stop. What question does the piece answer for them?
• Where it will appear. A social feed, a blog post, a slide, a poster, a printed handout. This decides the size, the amount of text and how much detail people will tolerate.
• How long they'll look. Seconds on social media, a minute or two on a blog, longer on a poster in a waiting room.

A social graphic has room for one finding and maybe one supporting number. A long vertical piece for a blog can tell a story in several steps. A printed report can carry tables and footnotes. Our sizes guide covers the technical side of each format.

Gather the data, then check it

Collect more data than you plan to use, then cut. The checks matter more than the volume:

• Find the original source. If a number comes from a news story or another infographic, trace it back to the agency, survey or study that produced it. Numbers drift as they're copied.
• Read the definitions. "Unemployment," "users" and "income" each have several official meanings. Write down which one your number uses.
• Note the date and the population. Who was counted, where, and when? A survey of adults is not a survey of everyone.
• Look for revisions. Official statistics are often revised. Use the latest edition and note which one.
• Keep a working file. A spreadsheet with each number, its source link and the date you collected it saves hours when someone asks where a figure came from.

Our guide to data sources goes through where to look and how to cite what you find.

Sort the content into an order

With the message and the data in hand, decide the sequence. Most infographics follow one of a few patterns:

• Answer first. Headline finding at the top, supporting detail below. Works for most social and blog pieces.
• Timeline. Events or values in order. Good when change over time is the story.
• Comparison. Two or more things side by side, with the same measures for each.
• Process. Steps in order, often numbered. Good for how-tos.
• Hub. A central idea with several related facts around it. Use sparingly, because readers don't know where to start.

Pick one. Mixing patterns in a single piece is how infographics end up feeling like a collage.

Sketch before you style

Draw boxes. Literally: on paper, or with grey rectangles in your design tool. Mark where the headline goes, where each chart sits, which numbers get large type, and where the source line lives. Leave colors, icons and fonts out entirely.

Then test the sketch:

1. Cover everything but the headline and the largest element. Does the message come through?
2. Read it top to bottom. Is the order the one you planned?
3. Count the text. If there is more than a short paragraph per section, cut or move it to the page around the infographic.
4. Show it to someone who hasn't seen the data. Ask them what it says. If their answer doesn't match your message sentence, fix the plan before you fix the design.

A short planning template

Copy this into your working file for every piece:

The last row is the one people skip. Writing down what you decided not to include makes it easier to resist adding it back when the layout has an empty corner.

When to stop planning

You're ready to design when the message sentence is fixed, every number in the sketch has a source in your working file, and a test reader can repeat the message back to you. From there, the chart guide and the color and type guide take over.

The gallery piece Where the 24 hours go shows a plan carried through: one message sentence, two charts that each answer part of it, and a single line of context where readers were likely to misread a number.

Questions