Designing to Understand: Infographics as a Tool for Learning and Communication
- EPOCH
- 10 hours ago
- 7 min read
Alex Prina
Telling a story in a clear, engaging, and useful way can be a challenge, especially when dealing with complex topics, an abundance of information, or difficult concepts to explain. In such cases, the use of infographics has become an invaluable tool to synthesise, organise, and present data in a visually appealing and easily understandable format. As a historian specialising in the creation of historical infographics, my work makes use of this tool to bring history to new audiences in an engaging and creative way.
Infographics are not confined to a specific field of knowledge; they can be applied to virtually any discipline: history, science, health, technology, economics, art, education, the environment, business, sport, general culture, and many others. What matters is not the subject itself, but how the information is structured and communicated.
This type of resource makes it possible to transform extensive and often dense content into visual pieces that combine text, images, graphs, maps, icons, timelines, or illustrations, enabling faster, more comprehensive, and memorable reading.
In my particular case, as a graphic designer and military historian, I discovered that infographics are an effective way to communicate complex historical events such as battles, campaigns, and armed conflicts through visual schemes that simplify information without sacrificing rigour or depth. However, the methodology I use to create them can be applied to any type of infographic, as the essential element is understanding how to organise content so that it is clear, appealing, and functional.
The process always begins with defining the objective: What do I want to explain or show with this infographic? That question guides all the subsequent development. Then comes the stage of research and information selection, in which filtering the essential from the secondary is key. One of the most common mistakes is trying to include everything, but a good infographic is not about quantity, it is about clarity and focus.
Next comes the structure: How will the information be presented? It could be a timeline, a comparative chart, a step-by-step process, a cause-and-effect analysis, a concept map, among others. The choice depends on the type of content and the target audience.
Later, the visual style is defined: colours, fonts, icons, illustration style, background, and so on. Every aesthetic choice must serve the message, not the other way around. An infographic should not simply be ‘pretty’ or ‘eye-catching’; it must be functional, with a clean design, clear hierarchy, and a layout that logically and smoothly guides the reader’s gaze.
It is crucial to avoid visual overload: a cluttered design not only overwhelms but also makes comprehension more difficult. Sometimes, a simple layout with effective use of white space and three well-chosen colours communicates better than a design crammed with unnecessary decorative elements.
Another fundamental principle is that the infographic does not replace the text, it complements it. A good infographic should not merely repeat what the text says, but add new layers of information, visually highlight the most important aspects, or make something easier to understand than it would be through words alone. That is why, whether in a journalistic piece, academic work, presentation, or social media post, the combination of text and image must be thought of as a harmonious and coherent whole.
Even in educational contexts, infographics can help not only to improve teaching but also to enable more efficient studying. When you create one yourself, it triggers a cognitive process that enhances understanding and memory: analysing, synthesising, prioritising, interpreting, and graphically representing a topic forces the student to truly understand it.
Therefore, although there are now artificial intelligence tools that can generate automatic infographics from a simple text or command which may be useful as a starting point, nothing replaces the pedagogical and creative value of making one yourself. In fact, AI can be an ally in the process: to generate ideas, create illustrations, suggest structures, but the creator should always retain control over the content and final design.
Regarding available tools, today it is possible to create high-quality infographics without being a professional designer. Programs such as Canva, PowerPoint, Google Slides, Piktochart, or Infogram offer templates and resources accessible to all regardless of your experience. What is important is having a clear message, structuring the information well, and applying basic visual design principles: contrast, hierarchy, legibility, consistency, and balance.
It is also important to understand that there are different types of infographics depending on their purpose:
Informative infographics explain a concept or general topic.
Statistical ones visualise numerical data.
Chronological ones show temporal sequences.
Comparative infographics analyse similarities and differences between elements.
Geographic ones represent phenomena on maps.
Anatomical ones explain how an object or system works.
Narrative infographics tell a visual story.
Instructional ones indicate how to do something step-by-step.
Choosing the right format depends on the content and the intended audience. In commercial or institutional contexts, for example, comparative infographics are very effective in showing differences between products, services, or proposals. In the scientific field, they help summarise findings, visualise statistics, or explain complex processes. On social media, short and visual infographics capture the audience’s attention and enhance reach. In print or digital media, they add value to journalistic pieces, making it easier for the reader to understand the story. The possibilities are virtually endless.
Although it may seem like a recent trend, the use of images to communicate information has ancient roots. Throughout history, infographics have taken on many forms and purposes, ranging from the most primitive to the highly sophisticated formats of the digital age. Among the earliest examples are the cave paintings of Chauvet (France, c. 30,000 BCE), where early humans depicted hunting scenes to convey both practical knowledge and symbolic meaning. Centuries later, in ancient Egypt, hieroglyphs and murals such as those found in the Book of the Dead served as visual guides to the afterlife. During the Middle Ages, diagrams like the Hereford Mappa Mundi (thirteenth century) provided cosmological representations of the world, combining geography, history, and theology.
During the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci created the iconic Vitruvian Man (c. 1490), a visual synthesis of anatomy, geometry, and architecture based on the writings of Vitruvius, designed to express the ideal proportions of the human body as a microcosm of the universe a remarkable early example of a scientific and aesthetic infographic. In the seventeenth century, physicist Christoph Scheiner illustrated the movement of sunspots in his work Rosa Ursina sive Sol, considered one of the first modern scientific infographics.
Later, in 1854, British physician John Snow produced a now-famous cholera map of London, which linked outbreaks to contaminated water pumps, marking a milestone in epidemiological visualisation. In the twentieth century, Otto Neurath and Gerd Arntz developed the ISOTYPE system: a pioneering method for standardised visual communication of data to the public. More recently, Edward Tufte has become a leading figure in the theory of information design, while Hans Rosling revolutionised global data visualisation with his animated presentations using Gapminder.
Today, with digital tools and artificial intelligence, infographics range from interactive maps to complex scientific visualisations, yet they still serve the same ancient purpose: to translate information into clear, meaningful, and accessible visual forms.
In short, creating an infographic is not just a technical or aesthetic task - it is an exercise in communication, analysis, and synthesis. It is a way to learn, to teach, to tell, and to share. For students, it represents an opportunity to develop critical thinking and visual expression skills. For teachers, it is a powerful didactic tool. For designers, it is a medium of purposeful expression. And for anyone interested in communicating better, it is a way to ensure ideas reach further and more clearly.
What matters is not the software, the graphic style, or the amount of data: the essential thing is having something to say and knowing how to say it in a visual, structured, and meaningful way. Creating infographics is, at its core, an act of translation: turning the complex into something understandable; the abstract into the concrete; the invisible into the visible.
From my personal experience, infographics have become an essential tool for narrating military history in a clear, structured, and visually appealing way. They allow me to recount major battles, explain tactical or strategic manoeuvres, represent the deployment of forces on the ground, compare weaponry or units, and build detailed timelines that help the reader follow the evolution of a conflict step by step.
They are also ideal for highlighting iconic military vehicles such as tanks, aircraft, or ships presenting their technical specifications, operational history, and historical context in a concise yet accurate manner.
In every case, the objective remains the same: to transform dense and specific information into an accessible, rigorous, and visually organised narrative, one that sparks the reader’s interest without sacrificing content depth.
In a field like military history, where data, dates, figures, and names abound, infographics not only improve understanding but also allow us to ‘see history’ almost as if one were present on the battlefield or inside an armoured vehicle.
That capacity to reconstruct the past through design is, for me, a way of paying tribute to those who lived it, and also of bringing history closer to new generations in a meaningful way.
Further Reading:
Wang Shaoqiang, New Playful Data: Graphic Design and Illustration for Infographics (Hoaki, 2021).
Stephen Wildish, Chartography: The Weird and Wonderful World of Infographics (Summersdale, 2016).
Stephanie B. Wilkerson, 10 Steps to Creating an Infographic: A Practical Guide for Non-Designers (SAGE, 2023).
Alex Prina is a Graduate in Communication (UP) and holder of a Master’s degree in Military History (INISEG). He is a member of the Military History Group of the International Centre for Advanced Research in Security and Defence, based in Madrid, Spain. He specialises in creating historical infographics on the Second World War and his work can be viewed at https://linktr.ee/segundaguerramundial_oficial.
