Data-ink in : Pretty equals true
Data-ink decides what is being compared in under “Pretty equals true.” The figure that must stay on the axis is 1983. Drawing it larger does not create a unit. Look first for a cut axis and a missing key. A legend is weaker than a direct label. Write beside the mark when you can.
When the story is: auditing slides, dashboards and science figures. Skip it in cases like: a poster that must shout from three metres — ads may keep some junk on purpose. Edward Tufte, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 1983 the share of ink that represents data versus decoration
Yes if one claim is visible at a glance in Meta, Google and retail print; otherwise link to a full figure. Yes for lab reports and poster boards if axes, units and a source line are present. Excel or Google Sheets or PowerPoint; export SVG/PDF. Do not rely on hue alone. Label directly and check greyscale.
Data-ink: honour the share of ink that represents data versus decoration, and switch when a poster that must shout from three metres — ads may keep some junk on purpose. The core mark of Data-ink is the share of ink that represents data versus decoration. auditing slides, dashboards and science figures
Read Data-ink as , “Pretty equals true,” and 1983. A bar with no unit is not those three.1983
Figures to keep
- Year of the chart
- 1983
- Axis figure
- 1983
- Chart
- Data-ink
- How to read it
- Pretty equals true