Lemonly is proud to be “home of the world’s best infographics,” but just what is an infographic? 

Let’s start with a cliché and work our way up (throwback to your high school graduation). Merriam-Webster defines infographic as “a chart, diagram, or illustration (as in a book or magazine, or on a website) that uses graphic elements to present information in a visually striking way.”

That’s pretty good. Lemonly similarly defines infographic as “a piece of strategically designed content showcasing a story or complex set of data in a visual way.”

An infographic is a piece of strategically designed content showcasing a story or complex set of data in a visual way.

Let’s get a few basic questions out of the way: 

• Do infographics have to have charts and graphs? No! 
• Do infographics have to have icons? No!
• Do infographics have to be static images? Absolutely not!

These are great questions. Thanks for asking. Let’s dive further into the hypothetical Q&A to find out what infographics really look like, why they’re effective, and how you can put them to work for your brand.

What do infographics look like?

Why tell you when we could show you? 

Okay, we’ll also tell you. Infographics come in all shapes, sizes, and types.

Some infographics are small enough to fit in an Instagram post. Some are as big as website pages or even ebooks. They can be static, animated, interactive, or some combination thereof — learn more about different types of infographics here. Based on the definitions we discussed earlier, even an animated explainer video can be considered an infographic. Pretty cool, huh? 

Philosophical aside: Is an ebook a single infographic on many pages or many infographics strung together? Who can say.

Infographics are Lemonly’s bread and butter, but that infographic-inspired approach to design (using visuals to make information easier to understand) carries over into everything we create. Check out lots more examples of static, animated, and interactive infographics we’ve made for clients from just about every industry.

Do infographics work? 

Of course they do! Visuals are super effective at communicating information and keeping audiences engaged. It’s why school textbooks have photos and diagrams and Fig. 1 and timelines. It’s why you’d probably click out of a website that had no images or icons, no matter how lovely the text treatment and hierarchy were.  

Effective infographics catch (and keep) your readers’ attention, make information more digestible, and help your message stick. All the things you love to see in your content. Check out our case studies to see some more visual content in action. 

What kind of information works well in an infographic?

With all the various shapes and sizes infographics can take, you have infinite options for stories to tell. It’s not all pie charts and paragraphs. 

If you have numbers and stats that will resonate with your audience, lean on charts, graphs, and other data visualization. If you need to quickly and effectively communicate your organization’s capabilities or benefits, maybe you want to include some icons. Trying to show milestones in your industry’s history? A timeline infographic is your best bet. 

Some infographics are branded, meaning they lead with your company name and established brand style. They can help explain the benefits of using your product or service, share results from a case study, communicate your company’s pricing structure, and more. Much, much more.

Other infographics are editorial, focusing more on general thought leadership or industry trends rather than your specific brand and offerings (though you might include your logo and some boilerplate text at the bottom). Editorial infographics are great if you’re looking for engaging, shareable, top-of-funnel content for your audience. Read more about branded vs. editorial infographics.

As long as you keep your topic focused, relevant, and concise, you can tell any story you want with an infographic. And our team is pretty good at helping our clients figure out what kinds of stories they should be telling with sweet visuals. 

Should I use infographics for my business? 

Heck yes! And Lemonly can help — contact us and we’ll give you a friendly call. You can also check out our ebook all about how to create killer visual content.