Review of WSJ Guide to Information Graphics by Dona Wong
Today, information and data is increasingly being represented as
visuals - either as impactful charts and maps, rich data
visualizations or beautiful infographics.
Representing information and data in visual formats gives
businesses, journalists, scientists, writers, etc. a powerful means
to communicate with their readers and users. However, over the past
few decades the approach taken towards charting has led to a lot of
confusion. More often than not, the charts created look beautiful
but end up misleading or misrepresenting the data behind them. As a
result of this, it has become increasingly important to bring
clarity to charting and data visualization.
In her book WSJ Guide to Information Graphics Dona Wong tries to
precisely this represent your data in charts clearly and concisely.
While several charting examples out there in the world are very
generous in their use of visual elements such as Color, shape,
position, Dona Wong tries to make the case that each visual element
should be directly connected to one aspect of data. This results in
elimination of visual clutter in charts, making them easier to read
and grasp within a single glance.
The point Dona Wong tries to make is that people dealing with
data often need to express themselves using graphics but lack the
correct ground rules/ guidelines in order to create well-designed
charts and graphs. This ranges from the right choice of chart i.e.
pie chart, column charts, line charts to placement of axes/ scales
and also the choice/ variations of color that ought/ought not to be
used.
With her past experience in graphics for New York Times, Wall
street Journal and as a student of Edward Tufte, Dona Wong
effectively synthesizes the best practices utilized in the industry
into a more accessible form in her book. Following a lot of the
rules mentioned in the book may help anyone build clear and
well-designed charts, infographics and data visualizations.
