News graphics - Ivan
News graphics, technical illustrations, documentation.
Readings:
* Visual Explanations, pages 144 - 145
* Envisioning Information, chapter 3
* The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, chapter 2 and 9
- A ligt transparent color for flow-lines is allowing the underlying type to show through.
- Good design has two key elements:
- simplicity of design
- complexity of data
- Attractive displays of statistical information:
- Have a properly chosen format and design
- use words, numbers, and drawing together
- reflect a balance, proportion, a sense of relevant scale
- display an accessible complexity of detail
- often have a narrative quality, a story to tell about the data
- are drawn in a professional manner, with the technical details of production done with care
- avoid content-free decoration, including chartjunk
- The conventional sentence is a poor way to show more than two numbers because it prevents comparisons within the data.
- Pie chart should newer be used given their low data-density and failure to order numbers along visual dimension.
- Words and pictures belong together. Viewers need the help that words provide.
- There are nearly always better sequence than alphabetical.
- Tables and graphics should be run into text whenever possible, avoiding the clumsy and diverting segregation of "See Fig. 2".
- Colors if used, are chosen so that the color-deficient and color-blind (5 - 10 percent of viewers) can make sense of the graphics (blue - easily distinguishable)
- Lines in data graphics should be thin.
- The greater meaning is given to a greater line weight.
- Our eye is naturally practiced in detecting deviations form the horizon, and graphics design should take advantage of this fact. Horizontally stretched time-series are more accessible to the eye.
- The analogy to the horizon also suggests that a shaded, high contrast display might occasionally be better than the floating snake. The shading should be calm, without moire effect.
- If the nature of data suggests the shape of the graphics, follow that suggestion. Otherwise move toward horizontal graphics about 50 percent wider than tall (Golden Rectangle).
* Beautiful Evidence, pages 116 - 117
