65 best infographics on the web

Every picture tells a story, as they say, but sometimes it takes a clever combination of words and pictures to tell a story quickly, concisely and in an entertaining fashion.

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The best infographics may look like they were simple to create in Photoshop CS6, but designing an effective piece of data visualization is usually anything but. We've trawled the web to uncover the very best examples of infographics, to show you just how it should be done. Some are funny, some more serious, and all are inspiring examples of the art.

• Check out these great tools to create infographics

01. Imaginary Factory

Illustrator, designer and typographer Jing Zhang has dived into her creative mind and produced a series of adorable infographics. Here, she's imagined elves hard at work inside our favourite gadgets with some cute illustrations and quirky annotations. The infographics include iPhones, cameras, clocks and TVs as well as coffees, cakes and teapots.

02. Distance to Mars

Ever wondered how far it is to Mars? Yes, we know that Wikipedia can tell you the exact distance, but once numbers become, well, astronomical, it can be difficult to really wrap your head around them. To help you out, David Paliwoda and Jesse Williams's motion infographic, Distance to Mars visualises these massive distances in a way that every digital designer can understand - in pixels!

03. Games controllers

Take a look at the infographic above and tell us you haven't spent hours, even days of your life thumbing several of the controllers you see! The wonderful people at Pop Chart Lab have created this infographic detailing the complete family tree of video game control schemes, including handhelds, joysticks, paddles, gamepads, rifles, steering wheels, and even a glove.

04. Zhi Liang

Singapore-based student Chen Zhi Liang was set a task by his graphic design tutor to create an infographic résumé and we think he's come up trumps with this design. Showcasing the all-important qualifications and skills, the résumé is eye-catching without being overwhelming. Liang's minimal approach is perfect for an overcrowded job market. 

05. Doctor Who

Doctor who fan and designer Sam Gibley was commissioned by Virgin TV to create this illustrated guide to commemorate the 50th anniversary. Artful and easy to digest, it provides a wealth of information on the history of the character, as well as some interesting factoids and trivia. 

06. Feltron Annual Report

Nicholas Feltron is best known for being a member of the product design team at Facebook. But, since 2005, he's been working on a personal project called the annual Feltron report. Every year, the designer releases the daddy of all infographics documenting everything he's done in 12 months. Awesome.

07. Fonts & Colors

Internet marketing and design company Tasty Placement developed this cool infographic that focuses on the use of fonts and colour among the world's leading brands. The interesting study shows which colors, typefaces and styles come together to form the logos of the world's 100 most powerful brands.

08. Serif vs Sans

Ever find it hard to choose between Serif and Sans? If so, this Serif vs Sans The Final Battle infographic might come in handy. The design runs through what type of typography is best suited to different projects. And the result? Serif is better for print and Sans is better for web. 

09. Wind map

A beautiful and original infographic, this animated wind map shows the delicate tracery of wind flowing over the US. The animation, developed by artists Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg, creates a series of beautiful patterns depending on which direction the wind is flowing. The interactive project also allows you to zoom in to see more details in a specific area.

10. Chinese social media landscape

A favourite of ours here at Creative Bloq, this is illustrator Jessica Draws' first ever animated infographic. Jessica was commissioned by China Blueprint Online to design an infographic to communicate the benefits of using Chinese social media in Australia.

11. Airbnb

Airbnb lets you discover and book unique accommodations around the world - from your desktop or mobile. Whether an apartment for a night, a castle for a week, or a villa for a month, Airbnb connects people to unique travel experiences. This infographic displays the company growth over the last few years using simple typographic treatment paired with fun accommodation illustrations.

12. Caffeinated Beverages

We're constantly being updated on the health risks of various foods and beverages; energy drinks are associated with insomnia, tooth decay, stomach damage and many more side effects. If you’re a designer that keeps your eyes open with caffeine, check out this infographic and see if you should start cutting back...

13. The Happy Show

A thought provoking and interactive infographic exhibition by Stefan Sagmeister. The Happy Show is currently on display at Toronto’s Design Exchange Museum. The exhibition offers visitors the experience of walking into the designer’s mind as he attempts to increase his happiness via meditation, cognitive therapy, and mood-altering pharmaceuticals.

14. Kobe Bryant

Even if you’re not interested in NBA basketball, you'll probably heard of Kobe Bryant. Recently he became the youngest player in NBA history to score over 30,000 career points. The LA Lakers have released this infographic, designed by J Alexander Diaz, that gives you an insight to Kobe Bryant scoring numbers throughout his 17 seasons.

15. Around the World in 80 Ways

LateDeals, who own many of Europe's best known holiday brands has created this stunning infographic showcasing 80 different methods of travelling around the globe. Digital design agency Code Computerlove  gathered research and discovered that there are 80 ways you could travel round the world from a hovercraft to a jet pack, to an electric milk float or on ice skates. The list also reveals that it would take a total of 24 years and 61 hours to travel round the world using all 80 methods of travel mentioned.

16. Facebook: Supercharging your apps

Feast your eyes upon our very own infographic, created by our in-house designer extraordinaire James Hollingworth. Here, you'll discover how Facebook has helped apps grow and develop, and the effect that being on the world's biggest social platform can have on your own app.

17. Evolution of the F1 car

This brilliant animated infographic was created by designer Rufus Blacklock. He has condensed 62 years of F1 car evolution into one handy minute-long video.

18. Olympic swimming 2012

Last year, graphic designers were well and truly in the grip of Olympics fever and this brilliant infographic from CREAX - created for their June 2012 newsletter - is one of the best offerings.

19. Home is where the internet is

As social media continues to be a part of our everyday lives, it's also becoming an important part of the way we travel. Tripl, a startup that allows users to share travel tips, trip itineraries, and photos from friends, created a cool infographic that shows how social media affects the way we travel.

20. The growth of green technology

Environmental issues will always be a hot topic and this infographic from The World Bank showcases the consequences of continuing on the current trajectory and suggests the benefits that can accrue from making a shift to green technologies.

21. Credit cards go social

Have you noticed the steady increase of credit card adverts when you log in to Facebook? Credit card companies have started to up their presence on social media websites to lure in young customers. This infographic from card hub explains why you should care...

22. Rank for your name in Google

Want to rank better in Google? If you’re an individual, you could build your own site and hope it does well. But you might have more success by creating a page for yourself on a social media site like LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter. This infographic from Search Engine Land shows you how.

23. The 10 things we fear and love about BYOD

BYOD (aka Bring Your Own Device) has gone from unknown techie ackronym to full blown phenomenon, with people taking their personal iPads and smartphones into work. This is happening in plain view, and with the full approval, of IT managers and CIOs. This infographic from zdnet showcases the loves and hates that this trend has inspired.

24. The current state of social networks

Twitter has recently proved itself as the social network with the strongest growth rate in 2012 so far, far ahead of the likes of Pinterest, LinkedIn and Reddit. This infographic from Ignite Social Media collects all the latest social network statistics.

25. Analysing London 2012: live infographic

This Olympics infographic from GoSquared is one of the most impressive interactive infographics we've ever come across. See for yourself and scroll - can you beat our score?!

Next: How Google works, MacDonalds and Starbucks, and more!

26. How Google works

A superbly-detailed visual walkthrough of what happens at Google after you add a new piece of content to the web. Like this post.

27. A history of app stores: Store Wars

The team at Webpage FX compared the Apple App Store, Android Market, Blackberry App World, and the Nokia, Palm and Windows Phone 7 app directories. Stats include the OS distribution, percentage of paid vs. free apps in each directory, average apps downloaded by device, average app cost, and total 2010 revenue from all apps sold.

28. The life & career of an average designer

This information graphic charts the life and prospects of the average designer, whether you work for an agency or strike out on your own as a freelancer.

29. The brain of the beginning blogger

Tips for newbie bloggers. This is a visual representation of the list-style post, which we talk about in the post: Infographic design secrets: 10 tips for dynamic data visualisation.

30. The fries that bind us: McDonald's and Starbucks infographic

We all thought that McDonald's and Starbucks were taking over the world; well, this clever infographic proves it. It looks at the number of stores each establishment has created, as well as their profits and produce. Scary stuff.

31. What happens in an internet minute?

A beautifully drawn and conceptualised information graphic that, in another life (and created by another designer), could have been a ho-hum pie chart.

32. Where did the money go?

This information graphic explores the average spending of an American consumer. The results may not come as a surprise, but the circular design is a lovely touch.

33. How would you like your graphic design?

How badly do you want to show this to your clients?

34. Global carbon footprint

A powerful examination of global carbon footprints, measured by country. Note how the actual data is invisible. The relative size of the circles does the job without having to list any numbers. Make sure you view the complete version to see how this cropped image fits in.

35. UK gamers and their playing habits

The leading international games market data, consulting and publishing company New Zoo created this quirky infographic showcasing how gamers in the UK spend their money and their time; with a few fun facts thrown in for good measure.

36. Tea and biscuit guide

Created by Bristol-based company Green Hat Design, this quirky infographic is a handy guide to the resilience of eight types of biscuit when you dunk them in a hot cup of tea.

37. European map of Flickr and Twitter usage

Not all information graphics are pretty, pastel illustrations. This one uses map data to visualise the locations of Twitter and Flickr usage across Western Europe.

38. Big Brothers: satellites orbiting Earth

If the number of satellites orbiting Earth seems a little too complicated to handle, this infographic sets them out in a clear and concise way. It even includes the dysfunctional ones so you won't miss a thing!

39. The Apple tree

This infographic is little outdated perhaps - it stops in 2009. But the graphic style, research and attention to detail is what turns a good infographic into a great one.

40. Typographic elephant

A brilliant accompaniment to the Panda infographic, both of which were created by Lish-55. Brilliant.

41. Twitter psychology

Ah, the woes we all face once a Twitter friend suddenly unfollows us. Understand the psychology of it all with this infographic from The Wall Blog.

42. London 2012: The first social Olympics

The International Olympic Committee recently launched an online hub, 16 years after it launched its first website for the 1996 games. This infographic discovers the rise of social media and what it means for the 2012 Olympics.

43. So you need a typeface

This is a fantastic infographic design by Julian Hansen. If you're on the hunt for a font, you start out by choosing what the typeface is for and the rest will lead you to your perfect choice. Let's hope you don't end up at Comic Sans!

44. Grand taxonomy of rap names

This colourful infographic is brought to you by Pop Chart Lab - a company set up by a book editor and a graphic designer who joined forces with one modest goal in mind: to render all of human experience in chart form.

45. The evolution of the blogger

The 'web log' (blog) was born in 1994 and since then, human interaction has never been the same. This amusing infographic from Flowtown sums it up perfectly with some awesome illustrations.

Next: Bill Gates is better than Batman, Photoshop's evolution & more!

46. Building a company with social media

The potential of social media is huge when it comes to building contacts and driving traffic. This simple infographic rolls it all into one easy-to-use image.

47. Bill Gates is better than Batman

Now, we can neither agree nor disagree with the statement of this infographic (both of them are pretty awesome!). Brought to you by Frugal Dad, this is one of the best information graphics we've seen for a long time.

48. Darwinian evolution of graphic design

Even though this infographic isn't entirely about graphic design, it's a great way to see the levels that it has achieved and how technology changed its course. Plus, it's super cute!

49. The evolution of Photoshop

With the release of Photoshop CS6, what better way to see its progress than with an awesome infographic?! Although the latest edition of Photoshop isn't included on this one, it's still a spectacular design (that we're sure it could be added to).

50. How do colours affect purchases?

Ever wondered why you arrived back home with too many purchases? Take a look at this brilliant infographic from KISSmetrics and maybe you'll understand. The colours in this design are to 'dye' for!

51. Explore the Twitterverse

Sometimes, Twitter can feel like another world. Thankfully, this infographic has been put together to showcase the Twitter universe - showing you who does what on every level.

52. The evolution of Star Trek

We love a bit of sci-fi here at Creative Bloq and what better way to get your sci-fi fix than with this awesome Star Trek infographic. It perfectly depicts the life and times of the cult classic TV show.

53. Reading, writing and earning money

It was the colour palette and originality of this infographic that really caught our eye. Gathering data from a recent survey from the U.S. Census, this infographic looks at where people are studying, where they're making money; and if there's any correlation.

54. The history of advertising on YouTube

We always knew that YouTube had been growing at an alarming rate, but this handy infographic brings it all together in one burst of information. The design of it is simple yet effective and we love the three-part colour scheme.

55. The infographic of infographics

Did the title confuse you? Us too. But this is a handy and tongue-in-cheek look at the design of successful infographics.

56. The life and times of Steve Jobs

There are plenty of Apple infographics dotted around the internet but this one explaining the life and times of Steve Jobs caught our eye. The clever illustration and unique layout is what makes it stand out.

57. The illustrious omnibus of super powers

If you've ever struggled to get your head around the entirety of the superhero families and their powers, fret no longer. This gorgeous infographic from Pop Chart Lab perfectly executes the information whilst looking marvellous.

58. How Instagram took America by storm

We're not quite sure how it happened either but Instagram was recently named as one of the most profitable and popular apps to date. Take a look at this infographic to see what all the fuss is about.

59. Dribbble: A HTML5 interactive infographic

That's right, you read it correctly. This interactive infographic for Dribbble is as creative as they come. A simple and sleek design makes the brand stand out whilst still making it UX-ready.

60. How green is your iPad?

This startling infographic was created by the team at Sortable and depicts just how bad your favourite gadget is for the environment. As depressing as the statistics shown may be, fear not, for there's light at the end of the recycling tunnel.

61. 2012 New York Auto Show animated infographical loveliness

We just couldn't help but feature this animated infographic from the New York Auto Show. Created by Erin Lancaster for Tier10 Marketing, the project is her first. We can't wait to see what she does next!

62. Accessibility challenges in email

This eye-opening infographic showcases what designers can do to take people with disabilties into account. From colour blindness to neurological disorders, everything is covered to help designers cater to those needs.

63. Understanding Google Page Rank

This fun infographic explains the complex nature of Google Page Rank and what you can do to get to the top. The creative metaphor of a Prom King tussle is used throughout.

64. The power of Pinterest

We're sure you're already be under Pinterest's spell and rightly so, as this infographic picks apart the rise and power of the service. It also explains how you can use it in case you're a newbie!

65. Avengers Assemble!

We've saved the best for last and what a beauty this infographic is. It breaks down each Avengers Assemble character's strength, skills, brains, gadgets and heart and displays them in a few handy pie charts. We absolutely loved the character designs!

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Did we include your favourite infographic? If not, please let us know in the comments below!