My Method for Magazine Infographics, By Peter Stoyko.
Step One
Butterfly: Ideas float around.
Butterflies: Some stand out from the crowd.
Butterfly net: I catch them.
Magnifying glass: I examine them.
Pinning: I save them for later.
Butterfly collection: I saved them in a large collection.
Binoculars: I look far and wide.
View: Looking at governance building.
View: Zooming into the upper window.
View: Zooming in further, seeing people.
View: People talking about challenges.
View: I notice unanswered questions.
Question marks: Those questions raise questions in my mind.
Question marks: And those questions raise more questions.
Sticky notes: I jot questions down and organize them.
Book: I read.
Books: I read a lot.
Exclamation notes on stickies: A jot down claims.
Exclamation notes: Those claims raise new claims in my mind.
Pencil and writing: I elaborate on interesting claims.
Note pad: Lots of notes get written down.
Butcher knife: I make some cuts.
Text snippets: Notes get broken into pieces.
In sum: We have lots of ideas, questions, claims, notes.
Step Two
Snippets assigned shapes: Grouping by concept.
Table of shapes: Organizing concepts.
Picture frame over frame: Reframing concepts.
Umbrella over shapes: Overarching idea or theme.
Fish hook: What's the hook?
Fish hook: What's the hook?
Alarm sounding: A rousing alarm? No.
Mystery box and key: A mystery solved? No.
Wrench fixing plumbing: A practical fix? No.
Funnel and diamond: Complexity distilled down to something sharp? Yes.
Writing note: Hook paragraph.
Cube structure and question mark: How are things structured?
A sequence of steps: A sequential story? No.
A map: A spatial map? No.
Anchor and surrounding item: A centralized display? Yes.
Ruler and page: Laying down guidelines.
Eye and hot zones: Top left and middle are prominent spaces for content.
Sight-lines: Eye goes from top left corner down and to centre.
Hook and anchor positioning: Placed in prominent space.
Eye and target: Eye needs a place to land next.
Sight-line to targets: Eye movement branches out.
Drawing house: Sketching.
Shape and writing: Sketching and jotting notes.
In sum: A sketch with main set-pieces arranged.
Step Three
Tongue: What's the flavour?
Blender: Time for mixing.
Thrown into blender: Collected ideas plus spices.
Blending: Mix it up!
Mysterious concoction: Poured into glass.
Sipping through straw: Taste test.
Psychadelic eye: New way of seeing.
Lightbulb: New light goes on.
Straight jacket: Add constraints.
Straight jacket and hearts: Love the constraints.
Spice Rack: Time to select specific ingredients.
Different fonts: Select a type style.
Title, Subtitle, Text: Construct text hierarchy with fonts.
Artist paint palette: Select a colour palette.
Different sized objects: Select scale.
Different types of line: Select line style.
Different types of fills: Select shading style.
Different 3D houses: Select approach to dimensionality.
Simple and complicated object: Select amount of detail.
Desktop computer: Time to use computer.
Line and arc: vector drawing with Bessier curves.
House drawn in outline: Constructing drawing.
Finished house drawing: Creating first graphical set-piece.
In sum: Add main anchor graphic within the grid.
Step Four.
Drawing icon outline: Turning concepts into icons.
Icon: Polished icon.
Eye and scale: Visual imbalance
Different asymmetrical shapes: Imbalanced group.
Eye and Scale: Visual balance
Background circles added: balancing out shapes.
Icon and background circle: A more balanced icon.
Equals target: Every icon a target for the eye.
Keyboard: Writing time.
Text: Writing the final text.
Shoe horn: Squeezing content into spaces.
Fitting icon-text units into space.
Positioning icon-text units
Adjusting the spaces between: design the space.
Looking for anything amiss, no matter how small
A finished information graphic.
 
EyeCues