Graphic pitfalls
Distorsions
Axis tricks
3D pseudo perspectives
Pie charts
Radial bar charts
Data/Ink ratio
Size
Chartjunk
Distorsion/Graphic manipulation
original
horizontal distorsion
vertical distorsion
Axis tricks
correct
misleading
In most of the cases we start the axis "y" at zero.
But there are cases when cutting the axis is necessary.
Axis tricks
Axis tricks
Daily average temperature in Budapest 1901–
Axis tricks
Weekly
Axis tricks
Monthly
Axis tricks
Quarterly
Axis tricks
Annual
Axis tricks
Annual
Axis tricks
Annual difference - 1901 is the reference
3D pseudo perspectives
correct
misleading
3D pseudo perspectives
bad
correct
?
?
Pie charts
Pie charts
Pie charts
Pie charts
Difficult to compare
Pie charts
A little bit easier to compare
It there any other ways to show this data?
Pie charts
Pie charts
Pie charts
Radial bar charts
Radial bar charts
misleading
Radial bar charts
Radial bar charts
Jastraw-effect
which is the larger?
Size
=
2x
Radius
=
2x
Data/Ink ratio
shading
border
contour
font type
prison grid
background image
Changes in oil prices/gallon
Data/Ink ratio
Edward Tufte's principles
Changes in oil prices/gallon
Minimalism can be a bad choice too
Data/Ink ratio
Chartoons/Chartjunks
Same data
X
y
title
Mapping
you want to show people not area!
Source: Karim Douieb Twitter
proportional symbol map
Source: NYT
populated area map
Source: Washington Post
area distorted by population/votes
Source: WSJ
equal area map