{"id":376,"date":"2021-01-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-19T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tac.debuzzify.com\/?p=376"},"modified":"2023-06-19T04:05:04","modified_gmt":"2023-06-19T04:05:04","slug":"9-easy-steps-to-make-great-charts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.the-analytics.club\/9-easy-steps-to-make-great-charts\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Make a Chart Attractive in 9 Steps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How to tell exciting stories in presentation slides with elegantly re-organized charts<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am an analyst. I work with charts mostly\u2014Charts for presentations, charts on dashboards, etc. However, most charts I see are overworked to look beautiful in the client’s eyes. The truth is, they find it hard to understand them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A useful chart is simple but not bland. It tells only one story and does it well. It speaks for itself and requires only minimal thinking to understand. Also, such charts use pleasant colors everyone can see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning how to make a chart attractive is a high-yielding skill for anyone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is a practical guide. We will work through a messy bar chart and make it elegant. The focus here would be on presentation charts. However, most of these principles are useful for dashboards as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The average attention span for us is eight seconds<\/a>. That\u2019s our goal \u2014 pitching the idea within eight seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Disclosure: You can also buy the books or any other useful items from the links given below. I may earn a small commission for qualified purchases, but it never affects your price.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Background Information<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I use this clustered column chart to explain the steps. It compares the television sales of 2020 with 2019 in many regions. The data used here is not real and is for illustration purposes only.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"A
A 3D clustered column chart with gridlines, axes, tilted axis labels, dark background, and over-styled typography.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

 Sure, it looks beautiful. I\u2019m a fan of dark backgrounds too. However, the purpose of the chart in a presentation is not to show off the presenter’s skills or desires. It needs to be optimized for better reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this chart, readers need to find out the story by themselves. I can see that sales in Asia dropped by about $2M, although it soared by $1M in America. But another person may focus on Africa and Europe, where the sales remain the same. If the message you want to discuss is the former one, the other one will create confusion. Not to mention; there could be many different ways your audiences interpret it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s begin the cleanup step by step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Prefer 2D graphics over 3D<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

3D graphics are beautiful, I agree. But we know that farther objects appear smaller than they are. In many cases, it leads to a false reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve seen this on many dashboards because this simple tweak makes the chart more appealing. However, most data visualization experts would agree that 3D should not be used<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"2D<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Use white backgrounds<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

White backgrounds are preferred for many reasons. First, it contrasts nicely with all other colors. White and gray go well together, whereas black and gray don\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, white backgrounds work well on both printed and digital mediums.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"White<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Organize content for the natural eye movement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Our eyes scan a chart from left to right and then top to bottom<\/a>. Hence, place the critical elements at the top left. I start with a left-aligned title, and then the legends, then the main chart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s good to use horizontal bar charts for nominal data and column charts for ordinal data.<\/a> For example, if we create charts over multiple years, it\u2018s better to use a column chart. In this case, as we compare data across regions, which is nominal, horizontal bars are a good fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to making the chart horizontal, I also made it ordered by the 2020 sales figures. It makes the chart easy to comprehend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Horizontally<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Labels are better than gridlines and axes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Gridlines and axes help with precise measurements. They could help during the exploration. But in a presentation, audiences will never use them. If your audience isn\u2019t going to use gridlines and axes to read the data, get rid of them.<\/a> Fewer details make charts cleaner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I like labels because they are closer to the data point and easy to understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Chart<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Use pleasant colors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Choosing the right color for a presentation is a tricky thing. There are cool colors and warm colors. And some people cannot see all colors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About one in 12 men and one in 200 women cannot see all colors<\/a>. Among different types, red and green color blindness is the most common one.<\/a> Hence, for accessibility reasons, it’s good to avoid these colors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The blue and orange combinations work in most cases<\/a>. Blue can be used to highlight something. Because blue is a cool color<\/a>, people can gaze at it longer. Contrarily, we can use orange, a warm color<\/a>, to draw immediate attention. I use gray for every other element because it doesn\u2019t compete for attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Chart<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Use visual hierarchy to highlight the story<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We placed elements on the natural eye movement, and we used pleasant colors in our design. There are other visual hierarchy techniques we can use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Size and proximity<\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Size is an effective way to set the visibility of chart elements<\/a>. We made all axis labels and data labels smaller because they do not directly contribute to the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Likewise, proximity helps to create logical groups with chart elements.<\/a> We made the gap between two bars narrower than the width of any bar. We also made the gap between two data points (regions) wider than the gap between two bars in the same data point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Typeface and typography<\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Sans-serif fonts are legible on presentation charts. Serif fonts work well for large texts like paragraphs.<\/a> My favorite for charts is Calibri.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, light font weight helps not to distract the reader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Chart<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Use helper elements to catch the reader\u2019s attention<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Helper elements are landmarks to drive the reader\u2019s attention in order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our story for this example was the drop in Asia and the gain in the Americas. I use an orange label closer to Asia’s 2020 bar. Orange quickly catches attention and also tells the reader there is something odd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also use a blue label closer to the Americas\u2019 2020 bar to tell the reader about the gain in American sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Chart<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. Descriptive titles, subtitles, and description<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Use text sparingly on charts<\/a>. However, they are a great way to tell your message and remove any confusion directly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I place the title and, optionally, the subtitle at the top left of the chart. Since I don\u2019t want these elements to get immediate attention, I use gray font color with significant bits bolded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I put any descriptions in a small font size at the bottom of the chart. They don\u2019t play any primary role in conveying my story. Hence it should be de-emphasized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"How<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This version is easily more readable than the one we initially had. Our attention goes to the orange-color -2M label at once. That tells us something is wrong with Asia. Then we move to the +1M label and think, \u201cAmerica doing good, however.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As there are no more attention-seeking elements, we revert to the top left corner for natural eye movement. The title says what this chart is about \u2014 television sales in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legend that follows the title tells us the blue bars are 2020 sales. And now everything starts to make sense. Additional notes at the bottom explain the reason, source, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. Test before presenting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

No matter how hard you worked on simplifying things, there is a chance you aren\u2019t conveying the message correctly. Hence it is always good to show your work to somebody who shares similar characteristics with your audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I usually ask a couple of colleagues to tell a story by looking at the chart. Most could come up with the story I intend to convey. And it usually takes about 10\u201315 seconds. Still higher than the 8-seconds goal. If they take longer or can\u2019t come up with a story at all, I rework it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Click<\/i><\/b> here to buy books related to data visualization<\/i><\/b><\/a> to make your presentations better.<\/i><\/b> <\/i><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/i><\/b>Recommended best-selling books on Amazon<\/i> <\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.<\/i> “<\/b>Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals<\/b><\/a>“<\/b> by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic
2.<\/i> “<\/b>Data Analytics for Absolute Beginners: Make Decisions Using Every Variable<\/b><\/a>“<\/b> by Oliver Theobald<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion: How to Make a Chart Attractive?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One picture is worth a thousand words \u2014 Fred R. Barnard.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We use charts everywhere to tell our stories. But often, we think of them as supporting materials, whereas they could play a more significant role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A great chart will tell the story by itself, and the presenter\u2019s role is supportive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we\u2019ve seen many ways we could clean up and organize a chart to capture the reader’s attention quickly and drive them through the story:<\/p>\n\n\n\n