How to use icons in infographics

If you use infographics to communicate complex information, this scenario may feel familiar.

You’re working on an infographic and want to make it easier to scan at a glance. There are a lot of data points to keep straight, so you add an icon for each one. But it does not seem to help. In fact, it feels worse.

What happened?

In this scenario, the icons were added with good intentions. The goal was to improve clarity and make the information easier to absorb. Instead, the infographic became harder to process.

But when a visual is already dense and the icons are not instantly recognizable, they can add complexity without adding understanding. The audience now has more visual elements to interpret, not fewer.

Let’s look at why icons sometimes distract instead of simplify, when the best times to use them are, and how to answer the real question: do I need icons at all?

When to use icons in infographics

Icons in infographics work best when they reduce the mental load required to understand and absorb the material. In other words, an icon should make information faster to recognize, not introduce something new the audience has to decode.

Here are three ways to think about using icons effectively:

Use icons when they boost the speed and ease with which the audience absorbs the data. Good icons are simple and instantly recognizable. Icons work best when they represent subject matter that is concrete, visual, and familiar, such as objects, people, or locations.

Add icons when they can do the heavy lifting. Some forms of icons come preloaded with meaning. Infographic devices such as Harvey Balls, ratings glyphs like stars or thumbs up and down, traffic light dots using red, yellow, or green circles, and simple arrow shapes are all technically icons. When used correctly, a single glyph can summarize the status or health of an entire category.

Use icons to help with organizing and chaptering. Icons can be introduced as section markers and used as a visual legend that helps carry a thread across complex infographics or long form documents. Color coding can reinforce this structure by visually grouping related information and signaling sections at a glance.

When to avoid using icons

While icons can be powerful tools for improving understanding, they can also quickly become clutter in busy documents like infographics. Here are three use cases when you want to avoid adding icons to your presentation:

Don’t add icons as decoration. Designers are often tempted to add icons to an infographic because they think it lacks visual interest. If an icon is too difficult to understand at a glance, it’s probably adding more confusion than context. A purposeful icon reinforces learning, a decorative icon impedes the process.

Don’t let icons compete with your message. If the data is strong and clear, an icon might not be necessary. Things like large bold stats, shapes that compare proportion and compelling trendlines can be impactful enough to stand on their own without icons stealing their thunder.

Skip icons that are potentially misleading or confusing. If the audience has to work hard to figure out what they are looking at, it’s not helping. Icons illustrating difficult, abstract, or niche topics should also be avoided if possible.

Best practices for icons in infographics

Perhaps the simplest way to think about icons is this: don’t use icons when they’re not needed!

Here’s a simple experiment you can run: try comparing a version of your infographic with and without icons. If the icons don’t make it immediately make it easier to understand and quicker to absorb, your infographic will probably be stronger without them. Remember, clarity is key, and even though icons add some visual flair, if they aren’t supporting your message, they are just getting in the way.

If after this test you decide icons are a good fit, here are a couple of our favorite ways to make sure icons are working hard to support your content:

Use icons consistently. Every icon you include should all feel like a family. Use consistent stroke weight, fill vs. line, size, complexity.

Be intentional with color. If color coding is introduced, it should be intentional and consistent across the infographic. Treat color as a secondary form of communication, not a replacement for labels.

Keep labels or captions. Icons in infographics reinforce the learning and help the audience absorb the material. If an icon is used as a hieroglyph in place of a simple text label, this introduces a mental load on the audience. Our recommendation is to use an icon in conjunction with a short, well-written label.

When deciding to use icons infographics, our biggest piece of advice is to simply ask whether to use them at all! Not every infographic will benefit from icons, but in the right situations, they can make the difference between clear visuals and muddy designs.

When included appropriately, icons can aid in scanability and understanding. They can communicate, quantity, health and trajectory without adding a single word.

There are other times when the data is all you need. If the information is clearly structured and well plotted, an infographic can be stronger without icons. In those cases, adding icons may introduce unnecessary complexity rather than additional insight.

About the author

Kyle Kartz is the Creative Director of Storytelling at VerdanaBold. He is an expert copywriter and strategist, with experience driving major campaigns for global brands in multiple industries. He is passionate about communications, the outdoors, and cooking.