The Visual Display of Quantitative Information

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Tufte, Edward. (2001) The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. Second Edition. Published by Graphics Press. USA.
Keywords: data, visualization, aesthetics, less is more

This book is about how to display quantitative information effectively, it is divided in two parts: Graphical Practice and Theory of Data Graphics. I borrowed the book because I thought I could get some ideas of how to visually organize content elements for the prototype, but the book is well centred on statistics.
Useful Quotes:

• For non-data-ink, less is more. For data-ink, less is bore. (The two aphorisms on the meaning of less are, respectively, credited to Ludwig Miles van der Rohe and to Robert Venturi, Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture (New York, second edition, 1977, p.17). P175
• What can be suggested, through, are some guides for enhancing the visual quality of the more routine, workday designs. Attractive displays of statistical information.

• have a properly chosen format and design
• use words, numbers and drawing together
• reflect a balance, a proportion, a sense of relevant scale
• display an accessible complexity or detail
• often have a narrative quality, a story to tell about the data
• are drawn in a professional manner, with the technical details of production done with care
• avoid content-free decoration, including chartjunk (In Chapter 9: Aesthetics and Technique in Data Graphical Design). P177

Alberto Ramirez Martinell