Making an Infographic in PPT

I recently was asked to create an infographic from scratch using Powerpoint. I had never done anything like this before, so here are a few tips on how to make an effective infographic in PPT.

1. Look online for examples of infographics to decide what style you think would work best. In my case, the theme was “One Thing Leads To Another,” so I chose a simple, 3 color arrow design where the reader would follow the arrows throughout the infographic to read the information. Styles can greatly influence how easily understood your infographic is, so make sure you research before you start making one!
2. Lay out the entire infographic ahead of time before adding details. It’s fun to immediately hop into making your infographic look beautiful, but unless you are amazing at planning ahead, it’s best not to do this. Instead, set up a basic layout with all the shapes, charts, graphs, and images ahead of time so you don’t run out of space, or use too little! You’ll be amazed how much a simple rough-draft can help.
3. Don’t use too many colors, images, words etc. Infographics hold a ton of valuable information, but become a mess if they are over-cluttered. Moderation is key. Don’t use too much text or it’ll look like a paper. Don’t use too many colors or it becomes disorienting. Colors are fine, it’s just important to keep them tasteful instead of overwhelming. Don’t use so many images your infographic resembles a collage etc.
4. Experiment! If you’re truly stuck, don’t be afraid to just try different things until something works! I got stuck in the beginning and had no idea what my infographic should look like, so I tried a few different types before settling on the arrow design, as I found it worked best. It’s perfectly fine to keep trying until you find the one that works.
5. With the arrow design I completed, I found it best to start at the beginning and work my way down. I would take the information from the script, write it out in a shape, and connect arrows to and from the shape to another shape. Since I started at the beginning of the script and worked until the end, it made me feel that I was making progress and allowed me to maintain the motivation to keep working hard! Find a way to finish the infographic that allows you to stay motivated.
6. Have time available to work on your infographic. My infographic took me around 16 hours to complete without a template. If you need to get your project done faster, it may be better for you to download a few templates and go from there. If you are making an infographic from scratch, know that it may take you a while to get the finished product you desire.
7. Stick with a font theme through the whole thing. You can certainly switch up fonts, but make sure they are moderately similar to each other and legible. Infographics are made to easily understand the information, so you don’t want your reader struggling to figure out what you’re saying if 20 different fonts are used.
8. Vary your images. Infographics are boring if they are monotonus and bland. Instead, add some variability through alternating colors, fonts, and graphics. Make your infographic something you would look at and want to read.
9. Know who will use your infographic. In my case, anything I used would have to be within the Creative Commons license, or basically within the public domain. Thus I had to make everything from scratch, including all images I desired to input. If this is for a simple class project that will not be released to the public, you can be more lenient with what you add, but make sure you know this ahead of time!
10. Have fun with it and let your creativity flow. Infographics are an artistic medium that allow for a ton of artistic design. It’s important you enjoy what you’re working on, and it’ll come out so much better! Think about design elements you would want to see in an infographic you’re reading and implement them!