Creating a graphic is like writing: it requires planning what will be conveyed, the order of presentation, and what details will be emphasized. I have already mentioned the books of Edward Tufte. Visual Strategies, by Felice C. Frankel and Angela H. DePace, is a guide to graphics for scientists and engineers. Their Web site is http://visual-strategies.org/
Their strategies can be summarized as follows (quoted from an article in the NY Times, referenced below):
- Consider how the graphic will be used, and by whom.
- Choose a design vernacular: Will you use cartoons, charts, sketches, photos or other elements?
- Organize the elements of your graphic and know how they relate to one another.
- Identify what’s essential (and, by implication, what can be dropped).
- Use color to draw attention, to label things that relate to one another or to express elements like scale.
- Add other variables as needed.
- Edit and refine. Reduce visual clutter. (Or as Dr. Tufte once put it, realize that every drop of ink must be in there for a reason.)
With care, a graphic can be worth much more than a thousand words.
Reference:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/science/visual-strategies-transforms-data-into-art-that-speaks.html?_r=0 accessed Feb 12, 2013
Creating a graphic is like writing: it requires planning what will be conveyed, the order of presentation, and what details will be emphasized. I have already mentioned the books of Edward Tufte. Visual Strategies, by Felice C. Frankel and Angela H. DePace, is a guide to graphics for scientists and engineers. Their Web site is www.visual-strategies.org.
Their strategies can be summarized as follows (quoted from an article in the NY Times, referenced below):
· Consider how the graphic will be used, and by whom.
· Choose a design vernacular: Will you use cartoons, charts, sketches, photos or other elements?
· Organize the elements of your graphic and know how they relate to one another.
· Identify what’s essential (and, by implication, what can be dropped).
· Use color to draw attention, to label things that relate to one another or to express elements like scale.
· Add other variables as needed.
· Edit and refine. Reduce visual clutter. (Or as Dr. Tufte once put it, realize that every drop of ink must be in there for a reason.)
With care, a graphic can be worth much more than a thousand words.
Reference:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/science/visual-strategies-transforms-data-into-art-that-speaks.html?_r=0 accessed Feb 12, 2013