This infographic was submitted to us by SpareFoot. They also provided this brief description:

SpareFoot, the largest online marketplace for self-storage, presents some figures that shed some light on what the future holds for the Class of 2013. Taken from a number of different sources, this infographic should give recent graduates a good preview of what they can expect out there in the real world.

There’s a lot of great information here, and it’s conveyed without an excess of text. This makes it really fast and simple to move through the infographic. It’s essentially exactly what the title says: a snapshot of the current graduating class! It’s especially interesting to see what students prefer in a job initially and again once they’re seriously considering a job — and that “friendly co-workers” makes the list both times!

In addition to keeping the text trim, the design utilizes data visualization — perhaps not at every opportunity, but it is there to help convey some of the information. The organization is clean, with subheadings and color changes to cue when new sections begin.

I would like to see the text lists portrayed with a bit more interest in some cases. Under “Corporate Culture,” in the aforementioned section about job considerations when initially and seriously considering a job, I like the use of iconography to break up the text a bit. But once we get down to “Top 5 Workplace Benefits…” and especially “Top Personal Qualities…” the lists are just blocks of text. I call out the “Top Personal Qualities” list particularly since every line begins with “Ability to,” making it a bit monotonous even though it’s only 5 short lines of text. Same goes for the entire “Work It” section.

In all, though, this infographic does what it set out to do, so I’d give it a B for conveying the necessary information in a clear and concise manner.

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<div align="center"><a href="http://www.submitinfographics.com/full-size-infographics/CollegeDrugUse-BestoftheWeb-032912-small.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.submitinfographics.com/full-size-infographics/CollegeDrugUse-BestoftheWeb-032912-small.png" alt="infographic" width="430"><br /> Click to Enlarge </a><br />Via <a href="http://onlinedegree.botw.org/drug-use-on-us-college-campuses/"> Online Degree Directory </a><br />View Other <a href="http://www.submitinfographics.com">Infographics</a></div> <p>

We designed this infographic for Online Degree Directory/Best of the Web.

Let us know what you think!

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<div align="center"><a href="http://www.submitinfographics.com/full-size-infographics/scholarship-tips-and-mistakes.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.submitinfographics.com/full-size-infographics/scholarship-tips-and-mistakes.png" alt="infographic" width="430"><br /> Click to Enlarge </a><br />Via <a href="http://www.studentscholarshipsearch.com/tips/scholarship-tips-and-mistakes.php"> StudentScholarshipSearch.com </a><br />View Other <a href="http://www.submitinfographics.com">Infographics</a></div> <p>

This infographic was submitted to us by StudentScholarshipSearch.com

This is a really useful tool for anyone looking for ways to fund their college education. It’s cleverly designed so it’s really fun to look at, and it definitely offers some good tips. I like the notes from Mom and the procrastination meter–”NO MONEY FOR YOU!”

There’s a lot of numbers that are important for applicants to know, but unfortunately only 1 data set is visualized–the range in award money. The rest of the data is just written out, or expanded upon in another way. For example, “41 out of 50 states offer scholarships” could’ve been a map of the US with the 9 states that don’t offer scholarships in a contrasting color. And while the procrastination meter is cute, it doesn’t seem to illustrate hard data.

This infographic would benefit from a reduction in text, a slight simplification on design (my eye is looking everywhere–it’s a great concept but a bit too busy) and a bump in data viz. That way busy students could check in quickly to see what they should be doing, rather than taking the time to read. If there are any available stats on how many students say they put off their scholarship apps, or a survey on the average number of scholarships students apply for, that would supplement the data really well.

As an infographic I’d give this a C, but as a useful tool for students, an A!

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<div align="center"><a href="http://www.submitinfographics.com/full-size-infographics/FreshersWeekSurvivalGuideInfographic.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.submitinfographics.com/full-size-infographics/FreshersWeekSurvivalGuideInfographic.jpg" alt="infographic" width="430"><br />Click to Enlarge</a><br /> Via <a href=”http://www.lloydspharmacy.com/en/info/2011-Lloyds-Freshers-Week-Health-Guide"> Lloyds Pharmacy </a><br />View Other <a href="http://www.submitinfographics.com">Infographics</a></div> <p>

This infographic (emphasis on graphic!) was submitted to us by Lloyds Pharmacy, and is kind of hysterical for being so serious.

This is quite well designed, and keeps a great sense of humor about some unpleasant things, like alcohol-related death and sexually transmitted diseases. The graphic representing “The Clap” hiding behind a bush and giggling… well, that’s wonderful. I laughed out loud! “I’m the most common,” it exclaims nearby. Again, hilarious. All the arrows are also pretty great, and the genital warts graph? Inventive. Definitely inventive. And gross.

The colors are bright, which corresponds to the IGs target audience, but it doesn’t go overboard. It isn’t so neon that you can’t look at it. The somber ending is a nice way to finish the infographic–while all the preceding information has been a light-hearted look at some of the negative things you might get into in your first week at university, there is a place for seriousness here.

I suppose the only thing I want more of in this infographic is just a couple of extra statistics–how many university students get the glandular fever (otherwise known as mono) each year? How far does the average UK student move from home for university? It seems to be steeped in statistics early on (which is good) but reverts to more info and fewer statistics near the end of the infographic. Because that’s all I really have to say here, I’ll give this studious infographic an A-!

(Click any image to view the entire infographic.)

Buying vs. Renting Textbooks

Textbook rental is a popular way to save on the exorbitant cost of books. Students can save over $2,500 in a four-year education by renting their textbooks. That’s a lot of bacon money, kids. Of course, there is a list of “better” ways you could spend your money, if you want to be practical like that. We also see how rental saves taxpayer money, which parents and grads can be happy about. (We’d like to point out that taxpayer savings are represented by pigs. While intended to give the impression of a piggy bank, it reminds us of bacon.) This infographic is easy to follow, so you can scroll through it at the bookstore.

The 14 Best and Worst Dorms in the Country

Although this infographic doesn’t give any of the dirty details on why these dorms are awesome or awful, it’s still pretty useful. Maybe we don’t want to know why Garner Hall is the worst dorm in the country. It might involve bodily fluids, pest infestation, or gray dining hall food. You should save the link or embed code to this IG when making your housing requests. That way, when John from Math 203 shows up every morning smelling like the burnt hair in his dorm’s carpet, you can link him and he can put in a request to move ASAP.

Reading Students Like An Open Facebook

Did you know that 70% of colleges say a student’s Facebook profile is a medium to high priority in admissions? You ought to change your profile pic to that cute high school grad picture with Grandma. This IG uses a nice bright color palette to convey some terrifying (though useful) information for prospective college and grad school students. The designer used simple bar and circle graphs with varied orientations and icons, keeping the data visualization interesting. Bookmark this IG to review again before you mail in your application.

Reading Professors Like An Open Facebook

It’s nice to see this IG, directly related to the one above, use similar tactics but new design for its data. While the same circle graphs are present, the color scheme is different, and the bar graph has been reimagined. This also has more illustration, like the cute desk setup. 91% of professors use social media as part of their jobs… so look them up! Even with privacy settings, you’ll still at least find a profile pic, and sometimes those are worth their pixels in gold. Or laughs. Or bacon. (Wait, maybe not in bacon.)

College Students: Is Twitter Hurting Your Grades?

Admit it. You’ve tweeted during class. You’ve tweeted in the library. You’ve tweeted while waiting to talk to your prof. You tweet all the time, but is it affecting your education? This dynamic Twitter-blue and gray infographic wants to figure that out, and it analyzes some pretty interesting data to do so. As long as you’re not tweeting about the cute barista at the coffee shop this morning, Twitter can play a positive role in a learning environment. We already know social media plays an enormous role in, well, social relationships, but educational usage is pretty cool.

An Infographic About the Class of 2011

Our recent grads have grown up with the internet. They are tech-savvy. They don’t bat an eye at actors drinking brand-name sodas and shopping at major retailers in movies and TV. And yes, the first thing they think of when they hear U2 is Irish rockstar Bono. They may also fear tap water, opting for the finest in bottled H20. This is our new generation. Congratulations, class of 2011! To celebrate your entrance into the “real world,” maybe you should fry up some of…

America’s Favorite Bacon Dishes

We designed this appropriately red and pink infographic. It uses social media ratings to determine the most popular ways to eat bacon in some major US cities. These range from pretty normal fare (double bacon cheeseburgers are #1 in San Diego) to the absurd (chorizo stuffed dates wrapped in bacon are somehow the Chicago favorite… Atlanta has similar taste). We don’t know where all these people who eat bacon with dates are hiding, but the IG shows its the most popular pairing. If you’re a no-frills bacon eater, just fry it up and chow down–we won’t judge.

Wrapping Things Up (Other Than Bacon-Wrapped Dates)

For busy college students, the faster the info is available, the better. Infographics are a great source of information for this huge portion of internet users, and there are a wealth of topics that will peak their interest. Food is always a plus, but data on financial planning, careers, cars, entertainment, politics, and more will resonate strongly, too. Keep it simple, use pictures, minimize text. These simple rules apply to all infographics, by the way: you should always focus on data visualization, telling as little about your topic through text as possible. Infographics without the graphics are just info.

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<div align="center"><a href="http://www.submitinfographics.com/full-size-infographics/fillthegap.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.submitinfographics.com/full-size-infographics/fillthegap.png" alt="infographic" width="430"><br />Click to Enlarge</a><br />Via <a href="http://www.privatestudentloans.com/fill-the-gap/"> Private Student Loans </a><br /> View Other <a href="http://www.submitinfographics.com"> Infographics </a></div> <p>

This infographic was submitted by Private Student Loans.

This is a very well-done infographic. It’s packed with information, which is for the most part delivered in a concise and visual manner. All text is there for an appropriate purpose, but if the majority of the descriptive text was removed, the viewer could still figure out what the infographic is trying to portray. Data viz is employed in most places that it could be, and is reasonably easy to interpret. The alternate ways of making money at the bottom of the infographic are funny. I thought they were intended to be suggestions and was horrified for a minute there…

The top graph took a fair amount of scrutinizing for me, though. Private 4-year and Private on Campus are accidentally identical in the key–though Private on Campus was actually more of a brownish-pink on the actual graph. Perhaps if the colors used weren’t quite so muted, it would be easier to distinguish between them. The boxes also seem to be slightly different shapes and sizes on that graph, which is a little strange. I’m also wondering why Public 2-Year is the only one without a contrasting color strip–it’s just a solid pink color.

It may have been used in the source material, but I found “hidden expenses” to be sort of a misleading term for anticipated items like textbooks and clothes. I thought it would have been referring to student fees, lab fees, etc.–school costs that are mandatory in addition to tuition.

In the grand scheme of things, these critiques are minute. This infographic is extremely informative, uses a wealth of data viz, tells a complete story and falls within the basic guidelines for proportions, info, etc. “Filling the Gap” gets an A-!

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<div align="center"><b>++ Click to Enlarge Image ++</b><br /><a href="http://master-degree-online.com/infographic-college-students-is-twitter-hurting-your-grades/"><img src="http://www.submitinfographics.com/full-size-infographics/twitter.gif" width="600" alt="College Students - Is Twitter Hurting Your Grades? | Infographic |" border="0" /></a><br />Via: <a href="http://master-degree-online.com/">Master-Degree-Online.com</a></div> <p>

Today’s infographic was one that we designed for Master-Degree-Online.com. It showcases a study that was done to determine whether or not Twitter is harmful to grades.

We can’t critique our own designs, so please chime in and let us know what you think.

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<div align="center"><a href="http://www.submitinfographics.com/full-size-infographics/dorms.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.submitinfographics.com/full-size-infographics/dorms.jpg" alt="infographic" width="665" height="931"><br />Click to Enlarge</a><br />By <a href="http://www.ecampus.com/" target="_blank">eCampus</a><br />View Other <a href="http://www.submitinfographics.com">Infographics</a></div> <p>

Today, we have another infographic submission from eCampus. This isn’t today’s version of an infographic, but it’s a more traditional version. I say this because traditional infographics are often just one graph, but today’s infographics have many charts and graphs to create a very visually stimulating piece. When eCampus submitted this infographic, they had the following to say:

Every college has the good dorm and the bad dorm. Unfortunately, many students are not aware of which is which prior to arriving in college. The “Dormy Awards” from DormSplash.com inspired us at eCampus.com to create this graphic to try and guide our customers into the right living situation.

What I like about this infographic is the very creative way of showcasing a bar graph. I also like that eCampus didn’t make their logo take up a large portion of the infographic, which is something they have done in past infographics. What I don’t like is that this is not a full infographic (in today’s sense of the word). I would love for this to include reasons why these dorms are the best vs. worst, ratings of each dorm, cost to stay in each dorm, location of each dorm (using a map, not listing it out), and more data points that would really help to answer the huge question that I walk away with after looking at this (especially since no sources are listed, so I don’t know if this is a matter of opinion or fact): WHY?

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<div align="center"><a href="http://www.submitinfographics.com/full-size-infographics/cost_of_college.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.submitinfographics.com/full-size-infographics/cost_of_college.jpg" alt="infographic" width="665" height="1995"><br />Click to Enlarge</a><br /><a href="http://www.ecampus.com/" target="_blank">eCampus.com</a><br />View Other <a href="http://www.submitinfographics.com">Infographics</a></div> <p>

This infographic comes to us from eCampus.com and seeks to answer one simple question: is the cost of college really worth it? Upon submitting the infographic, the folks at eCampus said the following:

According to the infographic posted on the eCampus blog, tuition is rising at an average rate of 5.5% every year. Students at a public 2 year institution should expect to get the cheapest education, paying on average $2,713 for 1 year of classes. Private 4 year colleges come with the highest price tag, averaging around $37,000. This totals the cost of a 4 year education at a private college to be approximately $148,000.

At such high costs students are racking up student loan debt like never before. Over two thirds of all graduating students have some type of student loan debt. The average student loan debt is now $23,186 per student. On a repayment plan at $175 each month, students can expect to pay off this amount in 33 years, paying over $45,000 in interest along the way. This leads over 7% of all student loan debtors to default within the first year of repayment. “These figures could make your head spin. By publishing statistics like this in an easily digestible manner we would hope that we can help educate our customers to make good financial decisions”, said Matt Montgomery, President and CEO of eCampus.com. “At eCampus.com we strive to provide great deals for our students so that college isn’t so difficult on their future finances. In addition to our already great deals we are now renting textbooks and saving students more money than ever before.”

The infographic also details the difference in earnings a college student might experience depending on their degree and major choice. According to the infographic, engineering students stand to make the most money during their careers, with petroleum engineers making the most at $157,000 per year. On average, students who graduate with a bachelors degree will make half a million dollars more per year than people with just a high school diploma, but still $1.3 million less than someone with a doctoral degree.

When it comes down to it, there are some definite pros and cons to this infographic. I prefer to start out with the pros: The font chosen for the infographic is great, as it’s the same font used on dollar bills. The background helps to emphasize the theme by showcasing faded dollars as well.

Now for some cons: The infographic relies heavily on typography to showcase the information, which is good, but a little overdone. There are many points on the infographic where more charts/graphs could be used rather than lists or large to small text. There’s not a lot of imagery driving this infographic, even though there’s a lot of opportunity for it. That would all be fine if it weren’t for the eyesore con: the logo at the bottom is overwhelming. It clashes with the color scheme and is way too large. All infographics are used to grow brand awareness and build links, but this is too much self promotion and it will likely discourage other bloggers from posting this infographic on their own sites. Make the logo smaller and bring its transparency down to 50% so that it isn’t too “in your face,” and the infographic would be drastically improved.