Infographics with Canva - An Introduction
dscommons@uvic.ca
For the UVic Libraries
Digital Scholarship Commons
lib.uvic.ca/ig
What We’re Doing Today...
What We’re Doing Today...
Introductions
Why make an infographic?
A Picture is worth 1000 words
Source: Stats Canada
Can make heavy topics easier to read & process
Source: One World Ocean
Visuals help readers process complex facts & figures more efficiently
Great for sharing!
Theoretical Foundations
Multimedia Learning Theory �& Infographics
Multimedia principle
Signalling principle
Spatial & Temporal Contiguity Principle
Coherence principle - Exclude extraneous material
https://waterbearlearning.com/mayers-principles-multimedia-learning/
Self-explanation principle (for assignments)
https://unsplash.com/photos/K-NCV0iQJZ8
Planning for Success
Planning a Infographic is like planning to build a House
Upfront Planning Can Help Us Avoid Design Problems
Charts for Infographics
Compare Values
Show the individual parts that make up a whole
Understand how the data is distributed
Analyze trends
Infographics Gone Wrong
What’s going on here?
What’s going on here?
Source: https://twitter.com/_rospearce/status/1427329220783616001
What’s going on here?
Accessible?
Infographics Should Tell Stories
https://unsplash.com/photos/ohNCIiKVT1g
https://unsplash.com/photos/gsRi9cWCIB0
Identify 3-5 Key Messages
Tell your story in a compelling and concise way in your desired medium!
What is Canva?
Canva has done most of the layout work for you:
Tip:
Having matching design elements is a key to a cohesive infographic
Many clip art objects allow you to change their colours.
Clicking on a clip art element will bring up recommendations of similar style elements, sometimes by the same designer.
Do I Need to Cite Clip Art?
“All clip art from Canva (2025) unless otherwise noted”
OpenAI. (2025). “Robotic arm painting a portrait. Include a sunset in the background. Make the image black and white.”[AI-generated image from DALL-E]. OpenAI. https://openai.com/dall-e/
In-text citation: (OpenAI, 2024)
Note:
Use the templates in Canva as inspiration, but feel free to change them.
Inspiration: check out Designspiration.com and Pinterest for ideas
NOTE:Canva saves like Google Docs & allows for Collaboration like Google Docs
Workshop Badges
If you’d like to earn a DSC badge for this workshop, email your finished infographic to: dscommons@uvic.ca
Activity Time!
For support: dscommons@uvic.ca
lib.uvic.ca/ig
Activity Time!
RichMcCue.com
Workshop Evaluation & Research Survey: bit.ly/dsc-eval