Infographic: eighteen illustrated guides

Wide-format illustrated vitamin C infographic with oranges, lemon, red pepper, strawberries, blackcurrants, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and potatoes arranged above nutritional guidance — synthographic artwork by davidname.

Infographics sit somewhere between explanation and display. They turn facts, instructions and comparisons into forms that can be scanned quickly, using typography, illustration, diagrams, colour and hierarchy to decide what the eye should notice first. Their authority is partly visual: information feels more manageable once it has been arranged, labelled and given a system. Infographic takes that language seriously. Its eighteen images are divided into Nourish, Keep and Grow, moving from vitamins and minerals, through food storage and safety, to practical gardening guidance. The subjects are ordinary and useful, but the project is less interested in nutrition, refrigeration or cultivation than in the way information design gives everyday knowledge a shape.

The images were not made by asking artificial intelligence to invent helpful facts and then make them look convincing. Research came first. Each subject was investigated through established sources, the information was edited into a fixed factual brief, and only then was ChatGPT Images 2.5 asked to organise and illustrate it. Before generation, a design system and a rendering system were developed to control typography, grids, colour, spacing, illustration, texture and visual density across the series. That process changed the role of prompting. Rather than describing a picture and hoping for something attractive, the prompts became design specifications: sets of decisions about what must appear, what should remain absent, what should dominate, and how much freedom the model was allowed.

That does not make the model an obedient piece of layout software. It interprets. Sometimes it follows a brief with remarkable precision; sometimes it omits a word, misunderstands an object or solves a visual problem in a way that has to be rejected. Those responses become part of the work. An earlier chapter of recipe infographics was abandoned when repeated generations proved visually unsatisfactory and was replaced by Keep. Selection, correction and refusal therefore matter as much as generation itself. Infographic is concerned with the polished visual confidence through which information acquires authority, but equally with how that confidence can now be produced. The synthetic image is the visible result of a longer collaboration involving research, editing, specification, interpretation and judgement. What looks effortless at a glance is built from a succession of choices.

Gallery

Illustrated vitamin C infographic with citrus fruit, red pepper, strawberries, blackcurrants, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and potatoes arranged above nutritional guidance — synthographic artwork by davidname.

Illustrated vitamin D infographic contrasting summer sunlight with winter conditions, alongside salmon, eggs, meat and milk as food-source imagery — synthographic artwork by davidname.

Illustrated vitamin B12 infographic centred on a human nervous system and red blood cells, with meat, fish, dairy, eggs and fortified cereal shown as food sources — synthographic artwork by davidname.

Illustrated iron infographic with red blood cells and oxygen moving through a blood vessel, accompanied by meat, pulses, nuts, dried fruit and cereal — synthographic artwork by davidname.

Illustrated calcium infographic featuring a cutaway bone, tooth, muscle and heart symbols, with dairy foods, green vegetables, bread and fish below — synthographic artwork by davidname.

Illustrated zinc infographic showing three stages of skin wound healing, with meat, shellfish, cheese, bread and cereal products beneath — synthographic artwork by davidname.

Illustrated food-storage infographic centred on an open refrigerator, with diagrams for temperature, chilled foods, cooked food, raw meat and air circulation — synthographic artwork by davidname.

Illustrated freezer infographic with an open upright freezer surrounded by guidance on temperature, portioning, labelling, defrosting and freezer burn — synthographic artwork by davidname.

Illustrated leftovers infographic using food containers, a 48-hour clock, saucepan, microwave and rice container to explain cooling, storing and reheating food — synthographic artwork by davidname.

Illustrated food-date infographic contrasting chicken marked “Use By” with strawberries marked “Best Before”, with supporting symbols for smell, freezing and storage — synthographic artwork by davidname.

Illustrated fruit-storage infographic with refrigerated apples, berries, citrus and grapes beside bananas and pineapple kept at room temperature, plus avocado and freezing guidance — synthographic artwork by davidname.

Illustrated vegetable-storage infographic showing potatoes, tomatoes and spring onions in a fridge, whole onions outside it, and examples of imperfect but usable vegetables — synthographic artwork by davidname.

Illustrated gardening infographic centred on a tall cordon tomato plant, with seedling, planting, training and spacing diagrams arranged around it — synthographic artwork by davidname.

Illustrated gardening infographic with a potato plant shown above and below ground, surrounded by planting, earthing-up, care and harvest guidance — synthographic artwork by davidname.

Illustrated gardening infographic centred on runner bean plants climbing a tall cane support, with sowing, watering, harvesting and pod-size diagrams — synthographic artwork by davidname.

Illustrated gardening infographic centred on a large courgette plant with yellow flowers and green fruits, accompanied by sowing, spacing, watering and harvesting diagrams — synthographic artwork by davidname.

Illustrated gardening infographic showing salad leaves through sowing, seedling, harvesting, cutting and regrowth stages, with a pair of scissors marking cut-and-come-again harvesting — synthographic artwork by davidname.

Illustrated gardening infographic centred on a strawberry plant with flowers and ripe fruit, with diagrams for planting, straw protection, ripeness and runner propagation — synthographic artwork by davidname.

"Good design is a language, not a style." — Massimo Vignelli