What is an Infographic? (Examples, Tips and Templates) (2024)

Infographics have exploded in popularity in virtually every industry.

From digital marketing to schools and classrooms, infographics are being used everywhere to communicate complex information in a visually engaging way.

If you’re new to design and unsure about what infographics really are, this short guide is created just for you. In this article, I’ll help you understand:

• What is an infographic?
• Why should you use infographics?
• How to create an infographic
• Types of infographics and when to use them
• Tips to make your infographic stand out

You’ll also find creative infographic examples and editable templates sprinkled throughout this article so you can start creating your own visuals.

But first…

Here’s a short selection of 10 easy-to-edit infographic templates you can edit, share and download with Visme. View more templates below:

What is an Infographic?

By definition, an infographic is a visual representation of any kind of information or data.

Whether it’s a study on market trends or a step-by-step guide on how to do your laundry, an infographic can help you present that information in the form of an attractive visual graphic.

Pro-tip: You can easily create your own infographics online using Visme's infographic maker. It comes with simple, drag-and-drop design tools and hundreds of customizable templates.

Take a look at the infographic example below.

Customize this infographic template and make it your own!Edit and Download

Notice how the use of bright colors, illustrated characters and bold text instantly grabs your attention and gives you an overview of the topic as you skim through.

Keep in mind that the goal of an infographic is not only to inform, but also to make the viewing experience fun and engaging for your audience.

And it all comes down to how you combine different graphic elements—like colors, icons, images, illustrations and fonts—to explain a topic in a compelling and easy-to-understand way.

The infographic above also showcases the statistics and percentages in a visual form using radials and a donut chart. So, even if you don’t read the text above the data widgets, you’ll still get the picture.

Why Should You Use Infographics?

There’s a reason why infographics are so popular—they’re fun, engaging and super easy to share. Plus, they have tons of benefits for all kinds of content creators, including businesses, educators and nonprofits.

Marketers can use infographics to drive more website traffic, increase visibility and brand awareness, and boost engagement.

Educators and trainers can use infographics to explain difficult concepts or break down complex information to make it easier to understand.

Nonprofits can use infographics to spread awareness about a cause or social issue.

Here’s an example of how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is using an infographic to create awareness about leaks.

How to Create an Infographic

If you want to create your own infographic, you can easily do so using Visme.

In Visme, creating infographics is a breeze because:

• You get to access free graphic assets, like images, fonts and icons
• You can choose from hundreds of pre-made templates
• You don’t need to be a designer to use it...
• ...but even your designer would love it!

Check out this video to find out how you can create an infographic in Visme.

Additionally, here’s a step-by-step guide to creating an infographic using Visme’s drag-and-drop editor and premade templates.

Step 1: Choose a template

The first step is to sign up on Visme (it's free!) and choose a template to get started with.

Browse through hundreds of free and premium infographic templates inside the dashboard to find one that works best with your content and purpose.

When you find one you like, hover on it and click “Edit.”

Customize these infographic templates using a drag-and-drop editor!Edit and Download

Step 2: Customize with your own content

When you finally select a template to edit, you’ll be taken to the Visme editor.

This is where you get to customize the infographic with your own colors, fonts, text, images, icons and much more and make it entirely your own.

Exciting, right? The best part is, all of this takes literally a few minutes because of the drag-and-drop editor.

In fact, you can change the entire color scheme of your infographic in one go using our preset color themes.

You can also add links and animations, upload your own brand assets, add data visualizations like charts and graphs, and add new content blocks to extend your infographic.

Check out our infographic design guide for more tips on how to make an eye-catching infographic!

Step 3: Download and share

That’s it—you’re almost done!

After you’ve finished customizing your infographic, it’s time to download it or share it with your audience in a variety of ways.

You can either download it for offline use in image, PDF or HTML5 formats. Or generate a link to share it privately with specific people.

You can also embed it on your website or blog using a responsive code, or publish it on the web so anyone can search for and access it.

Types of Infographics and When to Use Them

There’s no one-size-fits-all infographic out there.

Infographics are of various different types, and if you want yours to actually be effective, you need to pick a type that’s aligned with your purpose and nature of content.

Generally, infographics are used for one or more of the following reasons:

• Illustrating data: Present statistics, facts and figures visually using charts, graphs and other graphic tools.
• Simplifying a complex subject: Explain difficult concepts with the help of illustrations and visual cues.
• Drawing a comparison: Visually compare two or more products, services, features, brands or concepts.
• Creating awareness: Spread word about an important cause or create brand awareness and visibility.
• Summarizing longer content: Repurpose long videos, blog posts and reports into bite-sized infographics.

Once you’re sure about what you need an infographic for, you can move on to selecting the right type of infographic for your needs.

Here are the different types of infographics available in Visme.

• Statistical infographics
• Informational infographics
• Process infographics
• Timeline infographics
• Anatomical infographics
• Hierarchical infographics
• List infographics
• Comparison infographics
• Location-based infographics
• Visual resume infographics

Statistical Infographics

Statistical infographics make use of typography, charts and graphs to present research, facts and figures in a visual way. This helps make data look more interesting and easier to digest than a bunch of plain numbers or tables.

A statistical infographic can either focus on a single research or data visualization, or use a mix of different visualizations to present various facts and figures about a topic.

The infographic template below displays data about the global penetration of social media platforms in the form of a colorful bar graph.

Customize this infographic template and make it your own!Edit and Download

This type of statistical infographic is ideal for using as part of a report or presentation, or for visualizing a statistic mentioned in your blog post.

Now, take a look at the infographic template below. Instead of a single visualization, it focuses on giving a statistical overview of a more general topic—technology in education.

Customize this infographic template and make it your own!Edit and Download

This type of statistical infographics ideal for educational purposes and creating awareness about a subject or cause.

Statistical infographics are usually less text-heavy and more data-focused.

Informational Infographics

Informational infographics use a mix of text and visual elements to explain or simplify a topic, or guide readers through a series of steps.

The example below explains the concept of blockchain with the help of a colorful informational infographic that’s easy to follow and fun to read.

These are usually text-heavy infographics and can be used to summarize long blog posts and videos. You can also share an informational infographic as a stand-alone content piece.

Check out this informational infographic template to use for your own content.

Customize this infographic template and make it your own!Edit and Download

Informational infographics usually follow a visual narrative to tell a story. This includes leveraging font size and styling, imagery and the placement of different objects to lead the reader’s eye from one point to the next in the order of importance or position.

Process Infographics

Process infographics usually make use of flowcharts, diagrams and even timelines to guide readers through a series of steps or to help simplify the decision-making process.

Here’s an example of a process infographic template.

Customize this infographic template and make it your own!Edit and Download

These types of infographics are useful for giving instructions to employees, explaining a step-by-step process to customers or for light-hearted, humorous purposes.

Timeline Infographics

Timeline infographics are useful for presenting information in a chronological order. Whether you’re visually showcasing your brand history or showing how something has evolved over time, a timeline infographic can help you out.

Here’s a timeline infographic template from Visme to get you started.

You can use a timeline infographic to creatively display your brand story on your website’s About page.

This type of infographic can also help you with project management purposes, such as creating project timelines.

Anatomical Infographics

Looking to break down and explain the different parts of something? An anatomical infographic can help you do just that.

This type of infographic has a labelled diagram format, which can help you highlight and explain ingredients, product parts, characteristics, personality traits and more.

Check out this anatomical infographic template as an example.

Customize this infographic template and make it your own!Edit and Download

Hierarchical Infographics

This type of infographic usually features a pyramid to help you display different levels of information.

Take a look at the hierarchical infographic template below.

Customize this infographic template and make it your own!Edit and Download

If you want to organize information by different levels, such as by priority, importance or difficulty, a hierarchical infographic like the one above is a good way to go.

List Infographics

List infographics help you summarize and present list-based information. This could be a list of items, factors and even steps to do something.

Here’s a list infographic template you can customize.

Customize this infographic template and make it your own!Edit and Download

You can use this type of infographic to sum up a how-to or listicle blog post. List infographics are also likely to get shared as they’re usually straightforward and fun to read.

Comparison Infographics

Comparison infographics are useful for comparing multiple objects, people, concepts, products or brands. Visually comparing ideas can help illustrate similarities and differences.

Here’s an example of a comparison infographic template.

Customize this infographic template and make it your own!Edit and Download

These types of infographics usually have a multi-column layout, which is useful for comparing and contrasting two different topics side by side.

Another type of comparison infographic is a comparison chart, which compares and contrasts multiple features or brands in the form of a visual table.

Here’s a comparison chart template for that purpose.

Customize this infographic template and make it your own!Edit and Download

Location-Based Infographics

If you want to showcase geographic information in a visual form, a location-based or map infographic is a great option.

Here’s a map infographic template from Visme.

Customize this infographic template and make it your own!Edit and Download

Map or location infographics can be used to display local, national or global data and statistics. You can color-code the map to highlight different regions, and even make them interactive by adding hover effects, links and animations.

Location-based infographics make excellent visuals to add to your blog posts, reports and presentations. You can also use them as solo graphics and share on social media to drive engagement and traffic.

Visual Resume Infographics

Employers receive hundreds of resumes at a time and only a handful of them manage to stand out from the pile. If you want to take your resume to the next level, consider creating a visual resume infographic.

Check out this creative resume infographic template.

Customize this infographic template and make it your own!Edit and Download

Resume infographics offer a refreshingly new take on the standard infographic style. They make use of visualizations like radials, progress bars, icons and arrows to illustrate skills, interests, experiences and more.

Tips to Make Your Infographic Stand Out

Now that you know the different types of infographics you can use and how to create one for yourself, here are some tips to help you take your visuals to the next level.

1. Be original and creative.

There are millions of infographics and visuals floating on the internet. If you want to get yours noticed, create something unique and different.

Do some research before creating your infographic. Find out what kind of topics will appeal to your audience and what questions they might have unanswered. Search to see if there are any existing interesting visuals or infographics on the topic.

If there’s a topic that’s already been covered before but you still want to create an infographic about it, make sure you create it with a fresh, new angle.

2. Know your audience.

The most important piece of homework you need to do before creating an infographic is to find out if it will actually work with your audience.

Understand the kind of topics they like and what type of design will appeal to them. You also need to know the kind of tone that works with your audience, as you’ll use that to craft compelling copy for your infographic.

You also need to know the social channels that are most used by your audience so you can create an infographic that is optimized to perform best on those specific platforms.

3. Use appealing colors and fonts.

Color psychology is real. And marketers all over the world rely on it to create effective designs that actually bring results.

If your infographic doesn’t use colors and fonts that resonate with your audience or bring your content to life, it might fail to stand out.

Check out these resources put together by experts to help you choose the best colors and fonts for your infographic designs.

• Color Psychology in Marketing: The Ultimate Guide
• A Non-Designer's Guide to Pairing Fonts

Additionally, check out this video on color psychology in marketing to help guide your designs.

4. Illustrate text with icons and graphics.

Too much text can make an infographic look boring and uninteresting.

Make sure you use as many visuals and as less text as you can. One way to do that is to replace or supplement subheadings, labels, captions and other text in your infographic with icons, illustrations or images.

5. Establish visual hierarchy.

Visual hierarchy is all about organizing information on your design according to the level of importance or order so that the reader’s eye naturally goes from one section to the next.

Establishing visual hierarchy makes your infographic design look cleaner, attractive and more professional instead of cluttered with all kinds of information.

6. Make it interactive.

If you really want to make your infographic stand out, consider taking it a step further from just being a static image.

If you’re using a tool like Visme, you can add animations to your infographic, insert clickable links and buttons, and even add hover effects.

Start Creating Your Own Infographics

Infographics are one of the most effective types of content out there, for good reason.

They’re visual, shareable, fun to look at, and can make even the most boring and technical information look interesting.

Now that you know what an infographic is, when to use it and how to create one, it’s time to get started with your own.

Try out Visme's infographic maker for free and take it for a test drive!

Or, if you're looking to learn more about how to create show-stopping infographics, check out some of these handpicked resources below:

• VIDEO: 13 Types of Infographics and When to Use Them [+ Templates]
• How to Make an Infographic: The Ultimate Guide
• 12 Best Infographic Tools for 2021 (Full Comparison Guide)
• Infographic Design: Complete Guide for Non-Designers [2021]

Happy creating!