You can learn new things at any time in your life if you’re willing to be a beginner. If you actually learn to like being a beginner, the whole world opens up to you. – Barbara Sher

You gotta start somewhere, huh?

Starting isn’t easy. Whether it’s to found a business, learn a new skill or meet new people, moving out of your comfort zone is… well, uncomfortable. Many of us are reluctant to move out of there. It’s familiar. It’s cozy. We know the thoughts and feelings that reside in that zone. We know the kind of life that exists there.

However, taking risks and moving out of your comfort zone is a necessary evil if you want to grow. According to psychologist Abe Arkoff, fortunately humans have a strong impulse to grow and evolve.

With Piktochart, you can create engaging visuals with professional templates for presentations, social media graphics, infographics, and more. Collaborate with your team, pay per download, and get multiple perks by signing up for free.

Layouts for a Beginner: Repurposing Templates

With that in mind, this post is designed and crafted in mind to be that first step out of your comfort zone. We know you need to start somewhere, and with so many information out there, analysis-paralysis can kick in. That’s why we’ll give you concrete and specific examples on how you could create your first infographic by simply and easily repurposing two of our templates. You can follow along by creating a free account.

These templates are:

1 – Presenta Board

2 – 2015 Resolution

Let’s start!

Using Presenta Board to Present Data or Information

This is Presenta Board. It’s a super simple template based on a company’s sales report, but it’s designed to make showing data super easy.

We’ll transform it into a serious, black and red revenue update for a great company. This is the result.

This is how we’ll do it, and you can too following these easy steps.

First, start by firing up Piktochart and login into your account. Once you are in, use the search bar to find Presenta Board, and click Create. Once you do that, don’t forget to name it!

The next step is super important – changing the headline. That’s what captures the reader’s attention and encourages them to consume your content. Simply double-click on the title that’s there right now, and replace the existing title with your own headline. It should be short, concise and it should summarize what your infographic is about!

Now, let’s keep moving down the ladder. The second step is adjusting the rest of the content. It’s super easy, and it’s done exactly the same way as with the header. Just keep in mind to keep things short and concise. Infographics should be visual. Try to stay away from text, as images are much better at telling a story.

After you took care of the written content, you should move on to the central piece of the infographic – the graph. Graphs are the best way to quickly show complex information in a way that’s super easy to understand. Piktochart has a built-in chart editor, in which you could create, edit and modify animated charts right from your Piktochart account!

In this case, the template has a pre-built chart, so we just need to click on the little pencil on the upper right corner and access the graph’s editor. In there you can change the graph type, the numbers in the spreadsheet, colors, axis legends and more!

Let’s continue. Now that the graph section is done, we need to focus on the last piece of the ‘content’ puzzle: icons. Piktochart has a library with thousands of pre-uploaded icons. To change the ones in the template, simply delete them and use the icon uploader on the left to replace it with another one you like!

Now that all content is done, let’s focus on the coat of paint. The first step can be to change the typeface of the headline and body. Just remember: keep it consistent!

Also, if you aren’t quite fond of the background colors, you can change those too! It’s super easy.

Using 2015 Resolution To Transform Lists Into Beautiful Infographics

This is 2015 Resolution. It’s a beautiful and super versatile template you can use to transform any list into a fantastic, stunning and engaging infographic.

In this case, we are going to transform 2015 Resolution into an infographic called 6 Delicious Paleo Foods, in which we’ll list six different dishes or foods you are allowed to consume while being on a paleolithic lifestyle.

This is the result of the transformation!

First, we need to select the 2015 Resolution template.

To start with, we’ll modify the header block. This includes the headline, subheader and the colorful icons below it.

For the content, you need to follow the same steps as we did above. Double click on the text to select it, and then replace it with one that’s appropriate.

In this case, I took advantage of the previous design and went with ‘6 Delicious Paleo Foods’.

The second step is adding color to the design with some icons. First, use your mouse to select all the icons we have there and delete them. They aren’t related to the topic, so they shouldn’t be a part of the design. Then, you can use Piktochart’s built-in icon library to search for icons. In this case, I searched for ‘food’ and ‘meat’. I picked 9 icons, threw them on my block, and started playing with them – I re-sized, rotated and moved them around to form a simple, yet beautiful composition.

Now, on to the third step – transforming the actual list. It’s super simple, and a combination of the two steps we covered above: changing text, and picking a new icon.

Repeat the process for every item, until the list looks something like this.

Next up, we move on to focus on the graph. On the last example we saw how to edit a bar graph. This time, we are facing a pie chart. They are different ways of portraying data, but they are both modified in the same way. Click on the little pencil on the upper right corner, and edit the values.

Finally, once the content is polished, it’s time to play with colors, typefaces and backgrounds. Start with the header, and move the way down up to the source. You can edit typefaces, background colors, element positioning, or icons – basically everything you want to. If you are having some doubts, you can leave the formatting as it is, but we strongly recommend you apply your own, specially if there is some company branding you need to work with.

Start creating right away by signing up for a free Piktochart account to get unlimited access to creative and professional templates!

This post is part of September’s Layout Series. Feel free to check it out!