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Visual Display of Quantitative Information

20 Tufteisms from The Visual Display of Quantitative Information

1.Graphical excellence is the well-designed presentation of interesting data – a matter of substance, of statistics, and of design.
2.Graphical excellence consists of complex ideas communicated with clarity, precision, and efficiency.
3.Graphical excellence is that which gives to the viewer the greatest number of ideas in the shortest time with the least ink in the smallest space.
4.Graphical excellence is nearly always multivariate.
5.Graphical excellence requires telling the truth about the data.
6.The representation of numbers, as physically measured on the surface of the graphic itself, should be directly proportional to the numerical quantities represented.
7.Clear, detailed, and thorough labeling should be used to defeat graphical distortion and ambiguity.
8.Write out explanations of the data on the graphic itself. Label important events in the data.
9.Show data variation, not design variation.
10.In time-series displays of money, deflated and standardized units of monetary measurement are nearly always better than nominal units.
11.The number of information-carrying (variable) dimensions depicted should not exceed the number of dimensions in the data.
12.Graphics must not quote data out of context.
13.Above all else, show the data.
14.Maximize the data-ink ratio.
15.Erase non-data-ink.
16.Erase redundant data-ink.
17.Revise and edit.
18.Forgo chartjunk
19.If the nature of the data suggests the shape of the graphic, follow that suggestion. Otherwise, move toward horizontal graphics about 50 percent wider than tall.
20.The revelation of the complex.