Demystifying visual design: a sequential analysis of design processes in infographic visual composition

Abstract

New technologies have made the world highly visual, making visual literacy an important and relevant 21st-century skill. Educators and students are often required to produce visual communication products such as infographics, but they often lack the confidence and proficiency in visual design skills to create higher-quality infographics. We conducted a case study to examine how graphic and instructional designers perform the visual design process (i.e., a series of actions performed in composing an infographic, such as creating layout and alignment) when applying visual design principles. The goal was to investigate the visual design processes and identify differences in the strategies used to develop higher versus lower quality infographics rated across 18 design criteria. We identified the design actions and computed the transitional probability between the design actions to construct a process model for composing effective infographics. Results reveal that high-rated infographics were developed using a more systematic approach, starting by creating a well-planned structure (e.g., setting margins and columns) followed by setting spatial zones to map out a visual hierarchy prior to working on fonts, colors, and graphic elements, and using a consistent application of visual rules. These target processes were encapsulated into a five-stage Infographic Visual Design Model.