Thursday, October 29, 2015

A Must for Every Graphic Designer Portfolio: Infographics


When searching and applying for jobs it is very common to see “responsibilities include, but are not limited to”. You are no longer just the designer, but also the project manager and marketing coordinator. With a slow growing economy employers seek individuals with multiple skill sets.
Therefore, the ultimate question is: How do we acquire these jobs that are looking beyond the designer role? Do we get a second degree? We could, but that would be another expense that we can’t afford right now. Is there an alternative way? 

Competition, Graphic Designer Job, Employers, How to
Well, as designers we present 90% of our qualifications through our portfolio. With that said, we need that one piece that represents our project management and marketing abilities and that one piece is an infographic!

infographic, visual communication, visual arts, graphic design, marketing 





































This is an infographic I created as part of a brochure and added it to my portfolio. At every interview this piece got all the attention! Everyone loves infographics, but especially employers. Being able to convey data and a story in a visual form is very powerful and speaks a lot about your skills.

Infographics look simple, but require a lot of researching, data gathering and analytical analysis before a design is created. There is a lot of information out there and to visually represent it can be a challenge!

The point of an infographic is to display information in an interesting manner that is readable and easy to understand, especially to those learning about the topic for the first time. That all starts with identifying the story and creating a flow and hierarchy that connects the dots for the reader. A good test is to have someone glance at your infographic for about 30 seconds and recite back to you what the piece was about. If they cannot, go back to the drawing board.

I strongly urge you to put an infographic into your portfolio and to add keywords like analytical, marketing, research, project management and data on your resume. Set yourself apart from the competition and make yourself more valuable as a designer!

For infographic inspiration I like to use dailyinfographic.com 
To learn how to create infographics check out 10 Steps To Designing An Amazing Infographic 


Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. 
 

3 comments:

  1. I love infographics! Makes information so much more organized and interesting

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  2. The infographic you shared here is great, you did a wonderful job! They are so helpful with organizing information and making it easy to understand. I can only imagine how valuable something like that would be in your portfolio. I also appreciate the link on how to create infographics, i will definitely be checking that out!

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  3. I have begun working with marketing at work. The company manufacturer’s unique, job-specific tools and equipment and I can see that we have a hard time communicate the benefits and features of our products to the customer. I believe that infographics will an excellent tool to help us. That link you provided, "10 Steps To Designing An Amazing Infographic", will help me with putting together a proposal for infographics. Much appreciated!

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