Visual literacy is the interpretation of information presented in the form of images; creating infographics is one way to practise this skill. Infographics integrate research, technology and creativity to present large amounts of information in a compact and easy to understand way. As well as revealing information, they are used to identify relationships within it.

 Contrast – highlights differences, draws attention to specific areas

 Hierarchy – leads the eye from the most important information to the least important (size, weight, colour, position, lines and arrows)

 Accuracy – Identify sources so readers know if it's a personal opinion or fact

Relevance – don’t add information that will just confuse the reader, it reduces the impact

Truth – be careful not to use information in a way that misleads the reader (ie. Having two charts next to each other encourages the reader to compare them but if they use different scales the reader might not notice)

 Research (Who, What, Where, When, Why, How?)

 Experiment with ways to visualise your data (graph, flowchart, timeline, speech bubble, etc.)

Create a draft layout of your infographic on paper

Collect images using the Creative Commons search

Select colours and fonts that relate to the topic (can use colour to group ideas, use of 'white space')

 Arrange information so most important information is placed at the top, additional information that assists with understanding in middle, information that's related and interesting toward the bottom

Acknowledge your sources (in-text referencing)

(Schwartzman, 2010)