From subway maps to cereal boxes, information design is an essential tool that graphic designers use to communicate key messaging. In the world of branding, good information design helps companies connect with their target audiences. When information is organized well, it showcases your brand identity and makes a statement about the kind of product or experience you offer.
Displaying information effectively is a key aspect across every business touchpoint, including packaging design, web design, and marketing. Learn what information design is and how your business can use it effectively through examples and best practices.
What is information design?
Information design is the practice of using visual communication to convey information in a way that is clear and efficient. Sitting at the intersection of graphic design and written communication, effective information design uses hierarchy, language, and organization to eliminate ambiguity, employing visual cues to guide attention and improve user accessibility.
One subset of information design worth highlighting: data visualization. Data visualization is dedicated specifically to presenting complex data and quantitative information—think charts and graphs. Simplifying data in this way makes it easier to comprehend.
Examples of effective information design
- Diaspora Spice: Visualizing complex supply chains
- Elavi: Packaging hierarchy as information design
- Suri: Using images to convey information quickly
The brands below are great examples of how to successfully leverage the tools of information design for a more impactful user experience.
Diaspora Spice: Visualizing complex supply chains
Diaspora Spice CEO and founder Sana Javeri Kadri needed her audience to understand what made her spice brand different: a business model that prioritized heirloom quality while paying farmers six times the commodity price.
But conveying an effective understanding of how her brand was disrupting the traditional supply chain felt daunting. Diaspora eliminated the traditional slow and exploitative movement of spices from farmers to auction houses, importers, exporters, manufacturers, and grocery stores. How could the brand describe this without asking users to do a deep dive into the colonialist history of the spice trade? Information graphics (a.k.a. infographics) provided a solution.
As Sana explains on an episode of the Shopify Masters podcast, she worked with designers to present Diaspora’s unique process for sourcing spices in a branded chart. This chart presents complex information using visual design to convey a simple message: Diaspora’s spices are worth paying a premium for.
Presenting curated information in an easily scannable chart creates an obvious structure that allows users to quickly draw their own conclusions and understand what makes this brand different from competitors.
Elavi: Packaging hierarchy as information design
Good information architecture—how information designers structure communication—is about anticipating a user’s uncertainty, even when that means inverting the traditional rules of packaging design to make your message clear.
This was the challenge Elavi cofounder Michelle Razavi encountered when setting out to design packaging for the brand’s protein bar. On an episode of Shopify Masters, Michelle talks about designing with one question in mind: “Is it simple enough that someone can then go tell their friend about the product?”
Michelle recognized that the product’s packaging needed to communicate essential information to consumers within seconds when they glanced at a visual display in the grocery store. She wanted the packaging to answer as many potential consumer questions as possible in that first moment of visual contact. She inverted traditional branding rules that prioritize logo and brand name, instead creating an information-forward design.
The design team used information design to flip the hierarchy in the packaging’s structure, putting the product description (“protein brownie”) at the top. This visual restructuring allows customers to instantly understand what the product is without having to study the packaging closely. It’s a great example of how the design process can solve problems and help your products stand out on the shelf.
Suri: Using images to convey information quickly
Sometimes, images can convey ideas more effectively than text. Suri founders Gyve Safavi and Mark Rushmore describe on Shopify Masters how they set out to disrupt the oral care industry by tying the simple act of brushing your teeth to a healthier planet.
The problem? Consumers didn’t want to read all the text that listed out features or sustainability stats—the dense onslaught of information simply felt overwhelming. The Suri team used its design skills to switch to a layout that conveyed essential information using bold, beautiful visuals to get the point across.
Suri uses photos that showcase examples of its product’s materials rather than simply talking about them. There’s still text, but it plays a supportive role to the brand-building imagery, which guides the reader’s eye and prevents overstimulation.
Best practices for great information design
- Think clarity, not cleverness
- Determine the right hierarchy
- Build trust with consistent visual language
- Test with real users
Effective information design practices allow you to communicate with your audience quickly and clearly:
Think clarity, not cleverness
It doesn’t matter how fun or aesthetically pleasing your design is if it doesn’t help the reader access the information you’re trying to get across. Simplify, rather than adorn, and make sure that understanding is always the goal. A well-chosen visual element, like a photograph, chart, or diagram, often communicates information faster than words.
Determine the right hierarchy
Good information design leads the eye. This means that the information you want the user to encounter first, whether it’s a brand name, value proposition, or other vital detail, should be the most visually prominent. You can use a larger font size or boldness to capture user attention, or leverage your white space so the most important pieces of information stand out.
Build trust with consistent visual language
Creating a visual language that your brand adheres to can help users build a kind of mental shorthand. The technical term for this is a “design system,” and it describes how users develop pattern recognition when interacting with a new design language. Novice information designers might, for example, use ad hoc spacing throughout a site instead of a consistent spacing scale, or use typography hierarchy inconsistently.
Keeping your information design consistent means users don’t have to keep relearning as they go. This effectively reduces cognitive load at decision points and makes users more likely to complete their purchase.
Test with real users
Testing your ecommerce site, user interfaces, product packaging, and overall branding with real users lets you collect honest feedback to see if your information design is working. Tools like Lookback and Hotjar can help you record and analyze moderated site testing, while focus groups and surveys let you connect with your audience directly.
Information design FAQ
What is data visualization?
Data visualization presents complex information in a clear, concise way to make it accessible to users. It typically involves using graphic design to help users compare data points.
What is an example of information design?
Information design is everywhere, but critical real-world examples include a wayfinding design like a public transit map or escape plans telling people what to do in the case of a fire.
What does an information designer do?
An information designer takes data and abstract concepts and turns them into easy-to-understand visual content. They structure, organize, and present information to improve comprehension and decision-making.
