Arrows & connectors encodes values as a shaft plus a head that assigns sequence or cause. Heraldic piles and map north arrows; modern CTA chevrons from 20th-c. print ads.
In reports, ads and assignments it fits sequence, cause, download/click targets, map flow. Skip it when every object has an arrow — then none of them mean anything.
Principles
- Encoding — Arrows & connectors encodes a shaft plus a head that assigns sequence or cause.
- History — Heraldic piles and map north arrows; modern CTA chevrons from 20th-c. print ads
- Fit — sequence, cause, download/click targets, map flow
- Shared baseline — The eye compares length and position more accurately than area.
- Audience — PowerPoint, Excel or Google Sheets and Meta, Google and retail print share the same geometry.
Misconceptions
- Pretty equals true — Decoration rarely persuades; it slows reading.
- 3-D helps — Perspective distortion wrecks comparison. Keep it flat.
- More series is richer — Do not stack stories. One Arrows & connectors, one claim.
- Default palette is fine — Rainbow defaults fail color-blind viewers and grey print. Change Excel or Google Sheets defaults.
Why it matters
- Work — Work: sequence, cause, download/click targets, map flow. Readable in four minutes in PowerPoint.
- Ads — Ads: one number and one shape speak first in Meta, Google and retail print.
- School — School: for lab reports and poster boards, pick the form that answers the rubric.
- Craft — Craft: honour a shaft plus a head that assigns sequence or cause and decoration falls away.
Arrows & connectors: honour a shaft plus a head that assigns sequence or cause, and switch when every object has an arrow — then none of them mean anything.