INFOGRAPHICS - Layout development.

Infographics are extremely popular in todays world of graphic design. They help us narrate a story without having to use too many words. The story is told purely through pictures, photos and installations. Even though infographics make the information seem really easy for the audience to read, for the designer, it is anything but easy to come up with a good design and effective layout.

I must admit, when it came to sitting down with my sketchbook to design a layout for my infographic I was lost. I could not find a suitable layout that would illustrate my work as I wanted it to be foreseen. I first wrote down a few things I wanted to include in my design and went along by putting them together. 

Firstly I had 5 movements to discuss and five designers from these movements, back then and those more recent, to set out along my infographic. I wanted my design to be very modern and minimal. Importantly, I wanted it to be easy on the eye. As odd as it sounds I too great inspiration for my layout from the iPhone 5s' IOS7 display and layout. I love the minimal icons and round edges for the app icons and how it all neatly comes together.  Looking at the rows of icons on my screen I realised how it is designed purposely for easy eye flow and to avoid clutter. This same technique will make my infographic easy to read and much more user friendly. 

I chose a plain subtle background making use of black and different tones of grey. This would create a good contrast against the vibrant colours from the works I chose to display on infographic. The minimalist key I chose to show the linking between the works will also fit in very nicely without complicating my layout, making the placing of icons and pictures much easier.

following are a few snaps as to how I got round to making my design. 

When I was done from my infographic, I felt that I could elaborate a bit more and put more information into it, and still keep it simple without making it too chaotic. On the further left hand side I added another column with 5 equal boxes. Inside I put pictures of what was going on at the time of that art movement - elements which would have had an effect of some sort, an influence on these designers works. I later also added the dates of the seperare art movements underneath their names, giving it a clearer timeline, making it easier to read and understand the seperation of the 5 different rows.