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Check out The Plot's most popular dataviz tips
Hi, and happy Thursday! This week I’m attending the Information+ conference in Edinburgh 🌧️ While I interact with the amazing dataviz community and learn new things, I still wanted to show up in your inbox at the usual time. But with a different approach.
We often discuss somewhat philosophical questions here on The Plot: feedback, mission, process, etc. But it’s also healthy to go back to basics every once in a while. So this newsletter is a recap of some of the most liked editions from the past. Editions that go back to the fundamental dataviz principles that we (or, rather, I) sometimes put aside.
Let’s dive in!
You think you got your bars right? Check again.
Basic bars
What’s the simplest, most popular chart type? I’m sure many of you would reply bar chart to this question. It’s certainly one of the most common graphics we see in the wild, and for good reason: it’s quick to make and easy to read. But as much as I’d like to think bars are basic, I still encounter quite a few versions of them that make me scratch my head…
Does your text hurt my eyes?
Tiny text
Hi, and welcome back to The Plot! I hope you’ve enjoyed some lovely summer moments since the last edition, whether you take time off in August or not. Now that we’re back to business, let me start with a confession. I love small text. Small text in design can look crisp and elegant. The caveat? It’s most likely hard to read. If you’ve ever studied acces…
Don’t overdose on pie.
Visualising impact #1
Hi and happy Thursday! Before we dive into this week’s newsletter, I have a question for you: are you or your team looking to upskill in data storytelling this year? If yes, join me—and an international group of awesome data professionals—for a live
Right can sometimes be right.
Creative axes
A few weeks ago, I casually tweeted a snapshot of a line chart by Bloomberg in which the vertical axis was placed on the right side rather than the left. To my surprise, the post resulted in quite a discussion. Dataviz practitioners on Twitter seemed divided: some people were enthusiastic and excited about the right-aligned axis, while others were…a lit…
Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next week!
—Evelina
P.S. I’ve got an exciting announcement:
Black Friday for learning? Yes, please.
I’m sure by now you know that I run a public data storytelling course. If you’ve been thinking about enrolling to learn how to tell impactful stories with data, now is the time! Starting tomorrow, a 25% discount will be applied to all subscriptions for four days. Use the code MAVENMONDAY, and I’ll see you there!