3.19 ToDG: Aesthetics and Technique in Graphical Design (2)
- Below Tufte (2001, 2:183)’s criteria for a friendly data graphic, i.e., recommendations to make complex things accessible (accessible complexity):
| Friendly | Unfriendly |
|---|---|
| words are spelled out, mysterious and elaborate encoding avoided | abbreviations abound, requiring the viewer to sort through text to decode abbreviations |
| words run from left to right, the usual direction for reading occidental languages | words run vertically, particularly along the Y-axis; words run in several different directions |
| little messages help explain data | graphic is cryptic, requires repeated references to scattered text |
| elaborately encoded shadings, cross-hatching, and colors are avoided; instead, labels are placed on the graphic itself; no legend is required | obscure codings require going back and forth between legend and graphic |
| graphic attracts viewer, provokes curiosity | graphic is repellent, filled with chartjunk |
| colors, if used, are chosen so that the color-deficient and color-blind (5 to 10 percent of viewers) can make sense of the graphic (blue can be distinguished from other colors by most color-deficient people) | design insensitive to color-deficient viewers; red and green used for essential contrasts |
| type is clear, precise, modest; lettering may be done by hand | type is clotted, overbearing |
| type is upper-and-lower case, with serifs | type is all capitals, sans serif |
References
Tufte, Edward R. 2001. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. Vol. 2. Graphics press Cheshire, CT.