From the course: How to Create an Infographic
Visual messages are interpreted faster than textual ones at a mind-blowing rate of 60,000 times faster. Hence, infographics have quickly become a popular method for presenting detailed data.
While infographics are beautiful and efficient, they hold a strong responsibility of providing accurate data. To assist designers in digging up reliable data, we listed some of our go-to sites for information.
14 Data Sources for Creating Accurate Infographics
Data.gov
This is a great resource to start off with as it covers a variety of topics, including agriculture, climate, education, energy, and science and research.
The Census
The census covers every aspect of the population within the United States, from income, to demographics, to education. This is the resource to find demographic information for the different geographic regions in the United states.
Bureau of Justice
Discover facts about the criminal justice system. This website’s purpose is “to collect, analyze, publish, and disseminate information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government.”
Health Data
With the mission of “unleashing the power of data and innovation to improve health,” this site contains helpful information about medical practices and practitioners on both the federal and state level.
President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition
The reports and statistics provided on this website gives valuable insight into our country’s physical activity, nutrition, and obesity.
EPA
Through their data and statistics collection, you’ll find critical data impacting environmental issues, such as toxic waste inventory. This website hosts a ton of information about threats to the environment.
Unicef
The Unicef site complies information regarding children and women. Some of the statistics are disheartening and staggering. But if you’re creating an awareness infographic about violence against women and children, this is the site to visit.
World Health Organization
The statistics page on the WHO website provides a wealth of information on health issues globally. Find resources on water sanitation, childhood weight levels, disease and infection and much more.
National Center for Education Statistics
Mine through all the federal government education statistics at this site.This site also features neat interactive maps on educational testing statistics.
Bureau of Transportation Statistics
Anything you want to know about transportation and commuting within our country, the Bureau of Transporation Statistics is the source for your answers.
Geob.ase
Learn about different cities and countries with this nifty site. You’ll find statistics, population, weather, webcams, travel information for multiple places from all over the world.
We
ather Underground
Find weather forecasts and historical weather data. You may also locate global warming events and statistics on this site.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
“The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor is the principal Federal agency responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy.” Anything pertaining to working conditions and labor demographics, this site will provide you with reliable information.
Google Public Data
And Google saves the day again by providing a directory of official public statistics from the web. It’s really easy to get lost with this directory as it has compiled fascinating information.
What to do once you have your data:
Here’s an excerpt from the infographics course, How to Make an Infographic, that provides guidance on what to do with your collected data. The course is taught by the Lemonly team, a visual marketing firm based in South Dakota that specializes in infographics design.
Discover
Now that your data is gathered the third step is Discover. At this point we’re looking to discover the story that our data will tell. A great infographic has great data, but we first must discover what makes the data great.
Here are things to look for in your data:
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Trends – look for things that repeat or occur in a consistent format
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History – observe change over time to see how data has evolved
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Comparisons – one of the best things to do is compare point A to point B this will help emphasize the point you want to make
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Scale – a great way to make comparisons is with scale to illustrate relationship between two data points
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Outliers – if something looks strange or a data point is well outside of the others consider investigating it as there may be a unique story there
There is a good chance you may already know the data you want to use to tell your infographic story, but this list will help you get started.
If you would like to learn more about Lemonly’s process in planning and executing an infographic design, you may enroll in their course here.
Get an inside look at different designers’ creative processes for making quality infographics withInfographic Designers’ Sketchbook by Steven Heller and Rick Landers. Instead of merely showing the finished products of these inspiring infographics, this guide reveals the private sketchbooks of more than 50 leading graphic designers and illustrators, offering a glimpse into their creative processes.