A picture is worth a thousand words, but as an expert infographic designer I can make it worth millions. Love creating compelling visuals.
Examples of visual instructions & graphics
My steps in making good infographic
A good infographic is not just a nice visual. Here are my steps in making good infographic:
Collecting data
Sifting through the data is where it all starts. The data came in raw and messy form: an excel spreadsheet, some PDFs and links to other resources. While there are sometimes guidelines. “I want to compare the graphs on pages 10 and 46”.
I think of them as clues to discovering the story being told. This is also when I start gathering additional research from new sources. The full picture of a story is usually found scattered across multiple materials, not just in isolated charts.
Read everything
While it is tempting to read only the highlighted facts and skip the rest, this shortcut tends to result in more wasted time later on. One piece of information in a research ecosystem can obscure the big picture. Your client will realize this during the process, or the audience will point it out after the project is complete. Nothing feels worse than working hard on a project, then seeing it fall apart because you didn’t connect the dots. Designers who create infographics are adept at finding gaps in the data, making sure no important information is overlooked, and ensuring the facts support the story being told.
Finding the right narrative
What starts as boring data will become a boring infographic unless there is a good story. Infographics start with a unique purpose. It may be to clarify a complex set of data, explain a process, highlight a trend, or support an argument. Finding a good narrative is the first hurdle. Once the data is known, is it possible to tell this story with the information at hand? Are you interested in the subject matter? Is it an interesting story and worth telling?
Identifying the real problem
When a story emerges from the data, it’s time to pause for a check. In many cases, the data does not support the story the client wants to tell. What happens next is usually a slightly awkward discussion. Sometimes clients want designers to only use facts that make them look good, twist the data, or get around these obstacles.
It quickly becomes clear that this path is futile for everyone. Data doesn’t lie, and a good client doesn’t want to be blatantly misleading. the next step is a collaborative reworking of the story and data. After studying the topic for a few days, designers are valuable guides to finding a more accurate narrative and presenting it.
Pushing back on a client’s original idea can be a frustrating moment. In more subjective situations (color, typography, etc.), it’s harder for a designer to win the battle, but in these situations, my careful attention will be evident in the data-and often appreciated.
The truth in information requires experience to uncover it. Data has a way of winning the debate as to whether an argument is true or not. For example, a driver who owns a red car is twice as likely to have an accident than a driver who owns a blue car. This truth may (incorrectly) imply that car color somehow causes accidents. However, the real story is found in hidden relationships, known as confounding variables. Aggressive personality types were shown to prefer the color red. This aggressive behavior, not the color of the car, is the hidden reason affecting accident rates.
Creating hierarchy
In almost all studies, there is a “hero” who leads the story. This piece of data will blow your mind. Once you find it, it becomes a way to organize the project and reinforce the hierarchical structure of the infographic. The supporting elements are then organized to tell the rest of the story. This becomes a sort of moodboard of research points. At this stage, a picture of the final product will start to emerge.
Building the wireframe
Once the data has been combed through, the most interesting facts selected, and the hierarchy determined, a wireframe is created. Here, the designer creates an understandable visual representation of the key information and its hierarchy to send to the client for review. This is not the final design, but rather a tool for discussion, which allows for agreement on the structure to be used in the final piece.
Choosing a format
There are many ways to represent information. The best approach may be with traditional charts and graphs (bar charts, line charts, pie charts). A diagram or flow chart may be needed to explain a process. A map may be the best way to tell a story. Or perhaps just displaying the numbers will suffice.
If the budget is available and the data supports it, interactivity may make sense and open up many possibilities for data visualization. Whatever the case, the decision is guided by the data, which will fit into one or a combination of these formats.
Determining the visual approach
There are two overarching visual approaches to determining the look and feel of an infographic. On the one hand, there are those who prefer to make raw data beautiful (David McCandless, Nicholas Felton, and others subscribe to this view). These often take the form of charts and graphs, which are made visually appealing by their execution. The use of color, typography, and structure make this work interesting, like a piece of abstract art.
Those in the second camp (Peter Orntoft, Scott Stowell), prefer to use illustrations or metaphors. Here, data is disguised, conveyed to the audience in a visual narrative that often bears little resemblance to a chart or graph.
I’m not tied to just one strategy. Often I create hybrids: charts and graphs surrounded by more illustrative elements, or pure visuals overlaid with traditional data representations. The information available, the medium, the client’s brand, and the subject matter dictate the final solution.
Refinement and testing
Once the infographic takes shape and becomes a visual form, the refinement begins. Clients are involved in working out the details, both in the data and the visual storytelling, to ensure that the finished product is true to their brand and original intent. I involve some collegues in the testing phase to ensure that the work is readable and easy to understand, especially for those who have never seen the data before. I evaluate the design and iterate until the piece is as clear and simple as possible. The valuable back-and-forth process between the client and our internal team ends when everyone is comfortable that I have conveyed the information in the best way possible.
Releasing it to the world
Most infographics are shared online-even printed illustrations appear online in some way. This is a litmus test for your work. Data has the attractive characteristic of being read in different ways by different audiences. All the fact-checking and expertise imaginable doesn’t mean you’ve discovered all aspects of the story. So even after your piece is published, online discussions can expand (or destroy) your arguments in new ways.
This collective vetting often means the project is never finished. Revisions can happen as new data comes to light. While it can be intimidating to let your project be part of this process, it is also the reason why this medium is so rewarding. An intensely scrutinized design is one that has stirred the minds of its audience.
Interested in good infographic design?
If you are looking for an experienced professional and you feel like collaborating with me in January/February/March 2026, don't hesitate to contact me.
I deliver good infographic design for clients in the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Den Haag, Utrecht), Belgium (Brussels, Antwerp), Europe and worldwide.
I work mainly from Amsterdam and Brussels. Leave me a message or call me via: Contact me
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