Sublime

first business book about data visualization: Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts, by Willard C. Brinton, published in 1914.

Rather, my attention is drawn to the 2012 bars within the various groups because they are rendered in a darker color than the rest.

varies between chart types.

• Remove extraneous elements. Be aggressive. Take away as much as possible while maintaining the meaning. • Make all the elements support the visual. Use them to highlight the idea, not to describe the chart’s structure. • Remove ambiguity. Make sure each element has a single purpose that can’t be misinterpreted. • Use conventions and metaphors. Ta

approach—always take advantage of the space you have available to seek depth within reasonable limits. After that, and only after that, worry about how to make the presentation prettier.

Most of the charts in this book use both size and weight to distinguish titles.

Edwin Schlossberg: “The skill of writing is to create a context in which other people can think.”1 This book is a map.