How to choose the right chart for an infographic

Picking a chart is less about taste and more about asking one question: what is this number trying to say? A figure can be showing a size, a change, a share, a ranking or a relationship. Each of those jobs has a chart that does it well and several that do it badly.

On an infographic the stakes are higher than in a report. The reader gives you a few seconds and there’s no table underneath to fall back on. A clear chart choice is what lets one figure leap off the page.

Name the job before you pick the chart

Look at each figure and finish this sentence: “This number shows…”

• …how big something is compared with something else. Example: monthly footfall at three branches.
• …how something changed over time. Example: app downloads each month this year.
• …what share of a whole something takes. Example: where each ₹100 of a club budget goes.
• …the order of several items. Example: the five most borrowed books in a library.
• …how two measures relate. Example: hours studied against marks scored.
• …one striking fact on its own. Example: “1 in 4 trips now starts at a metro station.”

Once the job is named, the choice usually makes itself.

The quick-pick table

The number’s job	Chart that usually works	Keep it clear by
One striking fact	A big-number callout	Adding a short label and the base underneath
Size compared	Bar chart	Sorting bars and starting the axis at zero
Change over time	Line chart	Running time left to right, with few lines
Share of a whole	Stacked bar, or a pie with four or five slices	Making sure parts add to the whole
Ranking	Horizontal bar chart	Putting the biggest at the top
Counts of people or things	Icon array	Stating what one icon stands for
Relationship	Scatter plot	Labelling both axes plainly

Bars cover more jobs than any other chart. When in doubt, start with a bar and only move away from it if another form is clearly easier to read.

Big numbers deserve to stand alone

Not every figure needs a chart. A large “₹3.2 crore raised” with a one-line label reads instantly. The same number as one lonely bar has nothing to compare against.

Give a callout three parts: the number, large and bold; a label of a few words saying what it counts; and a small line stating the period or base. Two or three callouts in a row make a strong opening band for many infographics.

When a pie is fine, and when it isn’t

Pies get a bad reputation, but they have one honest job: showing that a few parts make up a whole. They work when there are only a handful of slices, when one slice is clearly bigger than the rest, and when the parts genuinely add to 100%.

They struggle when slices are similar in size, because eyes judge angles poorly, and when there are many small slices that need a legend. In those cases, a single stacked bar or a short sorted bar chart says the same thing more clearly. Donut charts behave like pies; the hole is a good place for the total.

Icon arrays make counts human

Rows of small figures, homes or bottles turn abstract counts into something the reader can picture. For example, a row of ten student icons with three highlighted makes “3 in 10 students cycle to campus” feel concrete.

A few rules keep them exact:

• State the scale: “each icon = 1,000 people”.
• Use whole icons where possible. If you must show a part, cut it cleanly and say so.
• Keep every icon the same size. Bigger icons for bigger numbers distort the comparison, because the eye reads area, not height.

Charts to handle with care

Some forms look exciting and read poorly:

• 3D bars and pies. The perspective makes nearer pieces look larger than they are.
• Bars shaped like objects. A tall bottle and a short bottle differ in width as well as height, so the difference looks bigger than the data.
• Dual-axis charts. Two scales on one chart invite the reader to compare lines that aren’t comparable.

If a chart needs a paragraph of explanation to read, it isn’t the right chart for an infographic. More on keeping scales truthful is in honest infographics: axes, scales and proportions.

A worked example

Say you’re making an infographic about a city book fair, with this data:

• 42,000 visitors over five days
• visitors each day: 6,200, 7,800, 8,100, 9,400, 10,500
• sales by section: fiction 38%, children’s 27%, academic 21%, other 14%
• top five publishers by books sold

Here’s how the chart choices fall out:

1. 42,000 visitors is a single striking fact. Use a big-number callout at the top.
2. Visitors each day is change over time, with five points. A simple line or five vertical bars both work. Bars feel more natural when there are only a few days.
3. Sales by section is share of a whole with four parts. A single stacked horizontal bar keeps it compact; a four-slice donut would also be fine.
4. Top five publishers is a ranking. Horizontal bars, longest at the top, with the names on the left where they can be read without tilting the head.

Four figures, four forms, each picked for its job.

Before you settle

Run each chart past three quick checks:

• Could the main point be read with the labels alone, even with the colour removed?
• Does the chart start at zero where it should, and do the parts add up?
• Would a plain bar chart say it just as well? If yes, consider the bar.

Once each number has its form, the layout falls into place around it. The full infographic method covers the steps that come next.