You know, as someone who’s spent years both playing with data and designing visuals for sports media, I’ve seen firsthand how a powerful infographic can tell a story that a thousand words might miss. The announcement that SCOTTIE Thompson was humbled to be part of the PBA 50 Greatest Players selection for the league’s 50th anniversary is a perfect example. It’s a data point rich with narrative—a modern star being etched into historic legacy. That single sentence is a springboard for a compelling visual story. Today, I want to walk you through my personal, step-by-step process for creating an engaging soccer infographic, drawing on this very kind of sports milestone as our inspiration. It’s not just about making something pretty; it’s about crafting a visual artifact that informs, engages, and maybe even inspires a deeper love for the game.
Let’s start where all good projects do: with a killer idea and rigorous research. You can’t visualize what you don’t understand. The “PBA 50 Greatest” news isn’t just an honor roll; it’s about legacy, evolution, and statistical excellence. For a soccer infographic, your core idea might be “The Evolution of the Modern Midfielder” or “Breaking Down a Championship Season.” I personally lean towards player-centric stories because they connect emotionally. Once you have the concept, you dive into the data. For a hypothetical infographic on a player like Scottie Thompson—a dynamic guard known for triple-doubles—you’d gather everything: points per game, assist-to-turnover ratios, rebound numbers for his position (which, for a guard grabbing 8-10 rebounds a game, is astounding), and advanced metrics like Player Efficiency Rating. I always aim for a mix of traditional stats and 2-3 advanced metrics to add depth. Say, for instance, you’re highlighting a soccer midfielder’s defensive work. Don’t just state “good at tackling.” Use the precise data: “Averaged 3.7 successful tackles per 90 minutes with a 68% success rate in the opponent’s half during the 2023 season.” That specificity builds credibility. This phase is messy, but it’s the non-negotiable foundation. I’ve learned the hard way that skimping on research leads to a beautiful but hollow final product.
Now, for the part I find most thrilling and most challenging: narrative and wireframing. Data alone is sterile. Your job is to weave it into a story. Using our PBA example, the narrative isn’t “Scottie Thompson has good stats.” It’s “From relative obscurity to a place among legends: How Thompson’s all-around game redefined his position and earned him a spot in history.” Sketch this story out on paper first. Literally, grab a notepad. I draw rough boxes: a hero header with the player’s image and the core headline, a timeline section showing his career progression, a key stats quadrant comparing his numbers to the league average or past greats, and a visual highlight of his most unique skill—maybe a diagram of his signature pass or movement pattern. This wireframe is your blueprint. It forces you to prioritize information. What’s the one key takeaway? For our soccer infographic, maybe it’s that a team’s win probability increases by roughly 40% when this midfielder completes over 85% of his passes in the final third. That’s a hook. You build the visual flow around supporting that central, compelling insight.
Finally, we get to the design and execution, where theory becomes reality. This is where your choices in color, typography, and iconography make or break the piece. I have a strong preference for clean, modern fonts like Montserrat or Open Sans for body text, and a bolder font like Bebas Neue for key numbers. Color psychology is huge. I might use a team’s colors, but always with a dominant palette and accent colors for contrast. For a “Greatest Players” theme, a classic, slightly muted palette with gold accents can evoke prestige and history. Icons are your best friends—a small soccer ball icon, a silhouette of a player in motion, a simplified trophy. They break up text and guide the eye. But here’s my cardinal rule: every chart, every graph, must be immediately intuitive. A bar chart comparing goal contributions should be labeled clearly and not overloaded. Tools like Canva, Adobe Illustrator, or even PowerPoint (which I used for years starting out) are perfect. I always leave what I call “breathing room”—white space around key elements so the infographic doesn’t feel cluttered. And never, ever forget to cite your sources in a small, discreet font at the bottom. It’s a mark of professionalism that, in my experience, separates amateur work from something truly authoritative.
In the end, creating a great soccer infographic is a blend of journalism, data science, and art. It’s about finding the human story within the numbers, just as the PBA did by honoring Scottie Thompson’s journey among their greats. The final check I do before calling anything complete is to ask: “If someone glances at this for 15 seconds, will they learn something true and interesting about the game?” If the answer is yes, you’ve succeeded. You’ve created more than a graphic; you’ve created a visual entry point into the beautiful, data-rich world of soccer, one that can captivate a new fan and give a seasoned analyst a fresh perspective. And that, to me, is the whole point.
