Staff members on the Harvard-Westlake Chronicle began a series of “How to” infographics that ran throughout their 2006-2007 issues. Take a look at an award-winning one, “How to Jujitsu.” Michael Kaplan, editor in chief, and artist Andrew Lee worked on the infographic together. Lee created the drawings and Kaplan designed the page using InDesign.
In an email interview, Kaplan explains the process to create the infographic. Here are some tips:
Conveying information.
In “How to Jujitsu, I determined what information
was going to be conveyed through the infographic, and after learning
about the five keys to Jujitsu, I decided that the graphic should focus on
these keys. I also arranged the graphic so that your eye would be
initially drawn to the panel at the top, but the temple in the
background persuaded the reader to also look at the graphics on the
lower half of the page. I also told Andrew Lee what to draw so that the
figures would correspond with the information.”
Designing the page.
“For a black and white page, I think we
did a good job of really playing with different blacks and grays so
that all the information would not be an assault on the reader’s eyes.
We also tried to make sure that the graphics did not all blend together
by using different sizes for each graphic of a person doing jujitsu.”
did a good job of really playing with different blacks and grays so
that all the information would not be an assault on the reader’s eyes.
We also tried to make sure that the graphics did not all blend together
by using different sizes for each graphic of a person doing jujitsu.”
Relationship between graphics and information.
“When designing a graphic, don’t try and make the information fit into a
preconceived graphic. You always need to make sure that the information
or chatter actually explains your graphic and that the graphic depicts
exactly what is said on the page. Also, it is not a bad idea to take a
look at design books, professional newspapers, and other high school
newspapers to get ideas for your graphics. Don’t plagiarize, but you
can use these graphics as building blocks for your own graphic.”
preconceived graphic. You always need to make sure that the information
or chatter actually explains your graphic and that the graphic depicts
exactly what is said on the page. Also, it is not a bad idea to take a
look at design books, professional newspapers, and other high school
newspapers to get ideas for your graphics. Don’t plagiarize, but you
can use these graphics as building blocks for your own graphic.”
