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Infographics: Examples structures

“Establishing a structure early on will set you up for success.”

This page gives you some examples of possible infographic structures, highlighted how visual flow is achieved within them.

Example structures and visual flow

The Storytelling section on the previous page, shows examples of elements connected by lines or arrows to help the reader navigate through the infographic. It also mentions timeline, journey or roadmap style structures. These have the strongest visual flow and are explained here with examples. However, other structures can still have visual flow as shown further below.

Timeline structures

These are uni-directional infographics that read from left to right or top to bottom. Information usually comes out from a central line or an arrow at one edge. Visual flow is relatively easy to achieve as there is a clear read order for the viewer to follow. Here are some example templates:

Infographic template with left to right arrow changing colour for each stage and boxes above giving more information, each introduced by a relevant icon Infographic with a dotted line running top to bottom and labels and text boxes alternating on either side. Simple project timeline template with staged arrow across the bottom and bracketed text above each stage.

Notice how the first and last examples here use colour to make it clear which label is connected to which stage of the process, this also helps with visual flow as the reader can immediately see that connection. The third project timeline template is available as an editable template in PowerPoint and has two different versions. Select File>New and click on Templates then search for 'timeline' to find it.

Journey/roadmap structures

Journey or roadmap structures are similar to timeline but involve a route that is rarely straight. With these, visual flow is established by a road motif or lines/arrows directing the reader to the next step in the process. Here are some examples:

An infographic showing a road on a green background with the different stages of a job application along the route - with text and icons at each point.    An infographic with 7 different points with icons and text at each joined by lines with arrows. Initially zig-zagging across the top and then looping around and coming back across the bottom   A roadmap infographic with a road going from top to bottom but with many turns. lines lead out to icons and information at each stage. The road itself changes colour gradually moving down the image.

As with the timeline examples, the 3rd one here is available as an editable template in PowerPoint - Select File>New and click on Templates then search for 'infographic'.

Comparison structures

If your narrative requires you to compare two things, then a symmetrical structure works well and you can create visual flow by your use of colour, repeated shapes or heading styles (or a mixture of these).

The example given here on the 6 common cultural differences in teams (shown down the right) has consistently used a designated colour on each side of the structure, has repeated the heading styles and central line and the shapes with the icons act together to point you down the graphic.

Radial structures

There are several different ways to structure an infographic using a radial structure. Visual flow generally travels around these graphics, usually in a clockwise direction. It can be helpful to indicate this to the reader by using numbering/lettering or arrows. Here are some examples but see the note below:

Infographic with a central circle and several pieces of information radiating out from that circle.    Infographic with a central circle split into three parts and then three pieces of information around the edges.   Inforgraphic with an central image in a circle rest of the rectangle divided into sections moving around the circle.

Image attribution: Scientifically reproduceable research = Jaqueline J Brito, Jun Li, Jason H Moore, Casey S Greene, Nicole A Nogoy, Lana X Garmire, Serghei Mangul, CC BY 4.0,

Not all of these examples have a good flow of visual information. Only the first has an obvious read order (helped by the alphabetical hints) and elements behind the text in the second one can hinder readability and therefore accessibility. In some ways, the final one is more like a jigsaw as the read-order might not be important.

You can also build radial infographics around Microsoft's SmartArt diagrams, or templates provided online like these below:

Circular element made using SmartArt graphics  Template for an infographic with a central circle and shapes with icons radiating out from the centre

The first, purple one here, is available via SmartArt and the second, multicoloured one from Presentationgo.com.

 

Comparison infographic: 6 common cultural differences in teams

6 common cultural differences in teams infographic with two opposing examples for several different points.

Note, this is not perfect either - the colour contrast between the coloured text and the coloured backgrounds is not high enough for good accessibility.

List structures

Sometimes the basic structure of your infographic is a list of information, very commonly in the form of "10 top tips" or something similar. These usually work best in long-thin graphics (portrait orientation) rather than wider ones as that is just the way lists work (and landscape lists tend to look like timelines which may be misleading). You can use more than one column if that suits your needs but be careful to make sure the information is styled the same in both columns or it may look more like a comparison structure. Visual flow is generally easy to achieve as it uses our natural reading order. Here are some examples:

A "6 best practices" infographic with large numbers and colourful image. Alternating sides for numbers and images going down the infographic     A 9 tips infographic with different coloured boxes slightly offset from each side alternately going down the graphic - large similarly styled images in each box too.     10 characteristics infographic with 5 characteristics on each side and boxes in alternating shades of blue down each side.     5 ways to help infographic with large numbers in circles of different colours down the left and , text in the middle (with heading the same colours as the coloured circles) and images on the right

Note some of the effective design techniques used in these examples - alternating layouts or colours, large numbers, related images types. These all help with the visual flow too.