Notes

Short posts, newest first, as a listing.

Small multiples

The same frame, many times

graphics

Small multiples repeat one simple chart for each group, with the same scales. The eye then compares the groups at a glance, and the reader learns the frame once and uses it…

Sparklines

Graphics the size of a word

graphics

type

A sparkline is a line chart set in the text, about as tall as a capital letter. It shows a trend where the reader needs it, beside the number that it explains.

The data and the ink

Erase what does not inform

design

Much of the ink in a chart shows nothing: frames, grids, shadows and fills. Take each away in turn, and keep it out when the chart still says the same thing.