1. Infographics Assignment
10% of Final Grade
What are infographics?
Infographics are defined as being a “visualization of data or ideas that
tries to convey complex information to an audience in a manner that
can be quickly consumed and easily understood.” (Smiciklas, 2012, p.
3).
For public relations professionals, infographics not only serve as a
great tool to communicate and share data externally, but also for their
internal audiences.
Assignment Overview
You will be asked to create an infographic explaining a concept or topic of interest within strategic
communications (ex. advertising, public relations, etc). Infographics are based on research and
data, so you will need to make sure to find reports and statistics to support these points and make
sure to cite them in APA format.
The focus of the infographic can be trend, industry, consumer, or even brand focused. Examples
of topics can include:
• Role of social media within public relations
• Growth of public relations as a field
• Angry Birds addiction and consumers
• The growth of social media in Super Bowl Advertising
• College students and smartphones
• Evolution of mobile technologies
• Sports public relations and teams
• Health issues or cause related marketing initiatives
Components for Infographic Assignment
1. Infographic Social Media Strategy Brief: Write one page max discussing the overall purpose
and goals of the infographic for the client.
Make sure to provide the following information: a brief bio of the client (3-4 sentences), goal
of the infographic, SMART objectives for infographic, audience targeting (ex. employees,
customers, social media bloggers, etc), strategies on how to share this infographic (Section 8),
and metrics for evaluating the success of this infographic (Section 10 from The Power of
Infographics).
2. Client Infographic: You will be creating an infographic for your client and focus on covering the
basic business information in a visual and professional manner. You will need to make sure to
cover one of the following groups of information for your infographic:
• Statistics (ex. sales, revenues, market research, surveys). Statistics help tell a story
visually like engagement across social media platforms for the client.
• Process (ex. manufacturing, customer service, PR). Discuss the various steps the client
goes through internally as well as the process for customer relations internally for online
communications / social media practices.
• Timeline (ex. company history, major campaigns, products and services launched)
• Ideas (ex. concepts, theories, vision statement)

2. • Geography (locations, metrics by region and cities)
• Relationships (ex. audiences internally and externally, products and services)
Components in an effective infographic: Make sure to focus on 1) color scheme that is related to
the brand and client focused in this project; 2) use of graphics and visuals to illustrate data and
information; 3) strategic use of charts and graphs; 4) type of font used
3. Research: For your infographic, you will need to provide additional research to support your
points. References and citations to research reports from Pew Research Center, Nielson,
Altimeter Group, CDC, Edelman Trust Barometer, etc are examples to use and cite in your
infographic. You will need to make sure to have these listed in APA style at the end of your
infographic (bottom of the page).
Grading Rubric Points
Infographic Social Media Strategy Brief 40
Infographic 40
Research 20
Total 100
Tips to remember
• Review Section 11 “Infographic Resources” in the Power of Infographics.
• Determine the overall purpose and rationale for the infographic for your client. Think
about what this infographic will do to communicate data/research/ additional
information for target audiences.
• Mix the use of visuals and symbols into your infographic: Think about symbols to
illustrate some of your data (ex. maps, gender, products, etc) to help convey your story
about your client visually.
• Think about the target audience. Who are you targeting on the behalf of the client with
this infographic? How will you market this strategically for this particular audience?
Where will you share this (ex. Facebook, Twitter, Visual.ly, Pinterest, etc).
• Strategize on what data you want to use: Will this be data and research come from?
Good resources include Pew Research Center, PRSA, IABC, and Altimeter Group are just
a few examples.
• Make sure to reference statistics, facts, and additional research used in the infographic.
This will be presented at the bottom of the infographic page as footnotes.
• For design purposes, look for inspiration: Visual.ly, Coolinfographics.com, and other
infographic data bases are good resources to look for ideas on what you can do with your
client infographic. However, you have to create an original infographic and cite the
resources appropriately.
Resources on how to create infographics (click on the links to go to articles)
• How to Create Outstanding Modern Infographics – Vectortuts+
• Infographic: Do-It-Yourself Guide to Infographics – Marketing Tech Blog
• A Few Rules for Making Homemade Infographics – The Atlantic Wire
• The Do’s and Don’ts of Infographic Design – Smashing Magazine
• How to Create a Great Infographics (Slideshow) – The Content Lab
• Design a Magazine Infographic – Digital Arts
• Create an Infographic Typography Animation – aetuts+
• How to Create Great Infographics – .net magazine
• The Anatomy of an Infographic – SpyreStudios
• How to Strike a Balance Between Data and Visualization – The Daily Egg
• 7 Steps to Make Your Infographic a Success – SEOmoz