As the demand for visually appealing and engaging content grows globally, infographic designers are becoming invaluable to businesses. So, it’s not surprising that the average Infographic Designer earns an impressive 77077 dollars annually in the USA. Now, this is an opportunity you just can’t miss!

So, it’s time to work on your infographic design skills and grab the growing job opportunities in this field. Let’s cover the basic requirements and key skills you need to get to a running start in both freelance and full-time infographic design.

The Job Of An Infographic Designer

Most businesses have now started implementing them to improve their traffic, audience engagement, and conversions with visible results. In fact, 84% of marketers who have used infographics claim they are effective. Naturally, high-quality infographics can be made only by competent infographic designers. So, let’s explore what their job includes.

An infographic designer works on the creation of infographics and data visualizations. This includes creating data-driven visual content and reports for consumers, internal audiences, and other businesses. Here are the typical day’s activities for an Infographic designer-

• -Reading the infographic brief or story document to understand the requirements  
• -Visualizing the data in innovative ways 
• -Brainstorming and presenting new ideas to clients.
• -Making sketches or wireframes for the infographic’s layout and its visuals.
• -Bringing the sketches to life using graphic design tools.
• -Applying other plug-ins, scripts, and software tools to simplify or enhance the design process.

The Requirements For Becoming An Infographic Designer

An infographic designer does not always require a college degree in design. A designer can learn using online courses and tutorials and even get online certifications to become experts at producing captivating infographics. 

However, a degree is often preferred by employers, and college courses offer important knowledge about design principles like color, space, balance, and alignment, among others. Moreover, you should go for internships and offer low-cost services to gain practice and build a portfolio before you can get high-paying jobs or freelance work.

The Top 8 Skills Of A Successful Infographic Designer

Infographic about the below eight skills every infographic designer must have. 

An infographic designer must exhibit exceptional creativity and design skills, as well as impeccable proficiency in graphic design tools and concepts. Let’s find out what it takes to be a successful infographic designer in detail-

1. Creative Thinking

Infographic designers must be able to think creatively to create visually appealing and compelling designs that capture their audiences’ attention. As an infographic designer, you should be able to come up with innovative ideas and concepts, as well as take existing ideas and give them a unique twist. Moreover, you must be able to represent complex data in an innovative way that makes it easy to understand for the layman.

2. Technical Knowledge And Software Skills

In addition to creative thinking, infographic designers must understand the software and technical aspects of design. This includes knowledge of HTML/CSS coding, Javascript, and various graphic design software, such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Canva.

While you will primarily use design tools, the knowledge of basic coding and CMS can also come in handy to meet complex client requirements, even in small agencies. In fact, 36% of companies with less than 1000 employees want their graphic designers to know HTML.

3. Soft Skills

As an infographic designer, you must be able to communicate with your clients and team members effectively and openly, or there will be chaos! Here are the key points where you will require developed soft skills-

• -You must listen actively and ask the right questions to understand the client’s requirements before starting the design process. 
• -While designing, you must request and incorporate feedback at every step to ensure that the designs meet the client’s needs through a proactive approach. 
• -Moreover, you should be able to explain the design and design process to the clients in easily understandable and jargon-free language whenever they have any doubts.
• -At all times, you must collaborate with your internal team to keep the projects on track through proper communication and reporting. 
• -You will also need effective problem-solving skills whenever there are any hurdles with the projects or issues raised by the clients.

4. Knowledge of typography

You must have a strong understanding of different fonts, their qualities, and their ideal usage. Furthermore, you should have a knack for strategically applying typeface attributes, such as weight, style, and size, to create the desired impact while maintaining high readability. 

This understanding of typography is inherent in everyone, but you need to develop a refined sense to know what fits where! 

5. Flexibility and project management

You must be able to adapt your design process to suit different kinds of projects, such as for marketing, branding, advertising, website, or editorial content. You should also be adept at managing large projects with a flexible workflow. This requires proficiency in prioritizing tasks, working quickly, and simultaneously handling multiple tasks and deadlines.

6. Efficient and Accurate Data Presentation

As a graphic designer, you must be skilled at taking complex data and presenting it in a concise and digestible way to customers or clients. Accordingly, your infographic must tell the underlying story in an organized manner with a proper color scheme, content arrangement, typography, white space, and a hierarchical or chronological structure. 

And that’s not all! You must also have good analytical skills and an eye for detail to ensure you create accurate and error-free infographics.

7. Marketing and branding

Clients often require infographics that promote their brand, products, or services. So, you must know the basics of marketing and brand positioning to make an infographic for marketing accordingly. 

For this, you must study the basics of branding and marketing and understand the client’s brand closely. Accordingly, you must make an eye-catching infographic for marketing that provide valuable information while highlighting the benefits of the relevant offering.

8. Research and Mathematical skills

Skills in research, mathematics, spreadsheets and other analytics tools are vital for infographics design. After all, the information in an infographic is as important as its graphics, if not more! So, you must develop your basic secondary research and mathematical skills and also learn to use analytics tools effectively to create infographics with valuable and correct information. 

The Common Mistakes Of Infographic Design

Now that you know what infographic design skills you need to become a pro designer, it’s time to cover what not to do! So, here are the most common infographic design mistakes an infographic designer must avoid-

-Visual clutter

Designers often cram too much information or graphic elements into the infographics while disregarding the need for white space. And this leads to visual clutter, which your audience may find too overwhelming to read! Remember to focus on key information and avoid adding too many graphic elements just because they look good or you have some space remaining.

-Data visualization problems

Incorrect or unclear data visualization that does not deliver a clear message is another common error during infographics design. This results from incomplete data analysis, a hurried choice of chart types, poor labeling, confusing colors, data errors, or other design flaws. 

-Too much length

Excessively long infographics can make readers lose interest, and sharing them may become cumbersome. You should reduce the information to add if possible or just create infographics as a series rather than one unending graphic!

-Inconsistency

While making different infographics for a client, designers often miss keeping a consistent brand voice across them. You must discuss with the client and develop a consistent method of data visualization, color scheme design, imagery, and logo placement. Making and following clear guidelines will help avoid graphics that look random.

-Incorrect Typography

Typography either creates a convenient and engaging experience or a total headache! Using too many font types, sizes, indiscernible text, and complex fonts are common mistakes that you must avoid. A few clear font types, colors, and sizes are all you need!

-Unclear structure

The lack of a clear hierarchy and structure makes an infographic very tough to interpret. To avoid this common issue, you need to wireframe out the hierarchy or structure of your infographic before starting the design process.

-Wrong resolution or dimensions

A lot of infographic designs are sabotaged simply by the wrong dimensions or low resolution, which makes the graphics incompatible with the devices they are meant for. You must discuss with the client to understand the target audience, publishing platform, and desired viewing experience. Also, double-check all the requirements specifications before you start designing. 

-Low-quality content

Great infographic design is built on great content. You must work with your writing team closely and double-check that the content is in line with the client’s expectations before adding it to your infographic design.

The Bottom Line

Ready to become a successful infographic designer? Start working on these eight infographic design skills today to build your dream career in infographic design. And if you need some inspiration, check out these successful infographic design samples from Infobrandz!