Designing Visuals

Determine what story you want to tell.

Choose the type of visual that fits the story.

tables (for exact values)
pie chart (part to the whole)
bar chart (one item to another & items over time)
line chart (items over time & correlations)
photographs (sense of authenticity)
drawings (dimensions and detail)
maps (location)

Use color and decoration with restraint.

Avoid chartjunk (Edward Tufte uses this term to describe decoration
or data presentation that is all style and no substance.)

Be accurate and ethical. (See Tufte on the lie factor in graphics.)

Know the difference between tables and figures

Tables have numbers and/or words arranged in rows and columns.

Figures are everything else.

Label tables and figures correctly:

Number tables and figures separately.
Label tables at the top, figures at the bottom.
Put a source note at the bottom of the visual.

Refer to your visual in the text in such a way that its meaning and use are clear.

(Adapted from Chapter 17 in Kitty Locker’s Business and Administrative Communication, Irwin, 1995.)