(This also can serve as a rubric for grading or critiquing these!)
1. Getting Started/Planning Out
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Pick a topic that is mental health related
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Make sure it aligns with the values of HGAPS
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Find information that is evidence-based (as much as possible)
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Pick a target audience (teens, college students, adults, parents, clinicians....)
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Make the infographic with the audience clearly in mind
Note:
Canva is a software program that has a lot of templates (including animated GIFS) that you can use*
2. Design
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HGAPS branding should be on all infographics (using the HGAPS logo)
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Have a clear title introducing the topic
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Relevant graphics are used to provide visual interest and cues (e.g., graphs, clipart, images)
Note:
Make sure all items used are free or able to use with watermark*
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Bonus: add links or QR codes to take people to more information or resources
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Cite all sources used, preferably with a link so people can find the original information (doesn't need to be APA Style; having a working link is a higher priority)
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Remember to CC BY 4.0 the graphic with your name on it (so that people know whom to thank!)
3. Review
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Proofread - no grammatical errors; all text is easy to understand
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Layout is organized and easy to follow
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Font is legible (avoid cursive/script, narrow fonts; big enough font size; vew at 75-100%; make sure to see what it looks like on a phone)
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Clutter-free (it should not feel like extra work on your eyes to read through it - keep a consistent color palette, limit font styles, not too wordy)
4. Publish
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Save as a PDF to keep the hyperlinks working
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Save as a .PNG, .GIF, .JPG, or .SVG to have a picture version easy to drop into Powerpoints, Google Docs, etc.
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Upload both files (with a shared file name that explains the contents) to the appropriate platform(s) (Wikimedia Commons, OSF, Dropbox, or email)
* Canva has free student licensing at many universities. It's easy to use and currently popular with students and in HGAPS, but the current Canva licensing for images is ambiguous, and many of the infographics students have made have been removed from Wiki, even with a CC BY 4.0 license for the student work, because Wiki is cautious about the licensing of the images. A workaround would to use images that you are sure are public domain, CC0, CC BY, or CC BY SA 4.0 or similar. Icons and images that are "lawyer safe" are available at The Noun Project, and high quality photos can be found at Flickr, Unsplash, and some other sites. Doing a Google Image search and adding "CC BY" to the search limits the results to images that would be okay to use, too.
Do not use something like this and expect people to have the patience to read it
If you REALLY want to use scripted fonts, make sure and double-check with someone else that it is legible
Many people personally prefer sans serif to serif fonts for graphics. If you don’t know what we mean, think Calibri vs. Times New Roman
General rule of thumb: less is more, both in words and in fonts
If the graphic starts looking crowded, it probably means you need more than one to convey the information you want, or you’re including unnecessary information
Canva’s infographics templates are well suited to lists. If you can think of a way to divide your information into segments (e.g., 4 categories, or a list of 10 items), it’s best to find a template segmented in the same number and adjust the colors, fonts, etc., from there as necessary
Templates honestly tend to be your best bet in terms of minimizing work for the best quality
If you make your own format fromscratch, try your best to create some kind of visual delineation of sections (color blocks, lines, etc)
Simplicity is best, but especially if your audience is the general public, try to add some visual interest:
Experiment with the alignment (i.e., alternating left and right, using center align for the titles to make them stand out)
Try to use free images (or our own when appropriate). Canva has plenty. Google also has a lot but be careful (!) that they’re not actually copyright protected
If you are using photos, ensure they are high enough quality to maintain clarity at the size at which they will be presented
Best to have 3 main colors: a primary color, secondary color, and accent color
Canva has a cool function where you can change the colors of most of the clip art-y images they provide, in addition to some other images you might import into their program
General design rule of thumb is ~ 60% primary, 30% secondary, and 10% accent
Infographics tend to catch the most attention when the background is darker and the secondary and accent are lighter, or when the primary and secondary are more neutral and the accent is a brighter color
More colors can be appropriate at times (ex: if there’s a photo included, you can’t really control that usually) so just make sure it doesn’t look too busy or unprofessional
There are more complex things you could get into like color theory, but in general it is best to avoid bright colors like neon, or red because it tends to have an aggressive connotation and that’s not usually wanted in psychology
HGAPS has started using a theme of colors starting in 2021(if it is going on our instagram as a post in the grid use the same color scheme)
Unless the infographic is commissioned by an external organization for a specific purpose or intended to be content-neutral (such as an objectively informational page on Wikipedia), include the HGAPS logo on all infographics
The logo can be found on the password-protected projects page. If you have trouble finding it, just ask a team leader
Find the logos here
The logo should be visible when included, but not overpowering. I’ve found that putting it in a lower corner tends to work well
If you are getting your information from an outside source, PLEASE include a citation. Luckily most infographics will be limited to one source. Consider your audience for citations:
Clinicians and/or researchers: sometimes a simple APA parenthetical is all you need. Gauge whether more info is needed on an individual basis
General public: a link tends to be better because APA isn’t familiar to most people
Wikipedia (exception to public): talk to the HGAPS exec team first because we’ve had a lot of issues with Wikimedia’s copyright policies and CC-by-SA in the past. It’s also sometimes unnecessary to include citations in an infographic made for Wikipedia because you can easily include that citation in the text caption.
If adding the content to Wikimedia there must be a creative commons license on it
CC by 4.0
This license lets others distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licenses offered. Recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licensed materials
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