Graphical Excellence – I can see clearly

I’ve always meant to read Tufte’s “Visual Display of Quantitative Information” but it wasn’t until recently that I got soooo busy that I just had to read it. You see, when things get very hectic and chaotic in my life…I find my sanctuary in a really good book!

If you are in the field of web design or development, I highly recommend spending some time with Tufte. In hopes of inspiring you to dive into one of his books, I’ll share just a few things I learned from him.

The task of the designer is to give visual access to the subtle and the difficult – that is, the revelation of the complex.

Elements of Graphical Excellence include:

  • Clear, precise and efficient communication of ideas.
  • Greatest number of ideas in the shortest time with the least ink in the smallest space.
  • Makes you think about the substance, not the method or design.

And let me leave you with this question, what is your data-to-ink ratio? Tufte defines data ink as the ink on the graphic representing data, and the data-to-ink ratio as data-ink / total ink used to print the graphic. And while Tufte is referring to graphs and charts, this concept hit me as applicable to web design in general. Perhaps the more appropriate term for web design would be signal-to-noise.

Last week I was struck by a fabulous example of a graphic that crystalized a wealth of information in a glance. One of my designers, Andy Greer, and I are working on fine art screensavers and stuggling with all the different screen resolutions, aspect ratios and the desire to never distort a digital image of a work of art. Then Andy pulls up this fabulous chart of Video Display Standards Comparison. Talk about fantastic data to ink ratio!

I’ll close with this thought, in our official business, I want to maximize signal and reduce noise. But I never want to squelch creativity and I truly enjoy unrestrained noisemaking on a regular basis in the company of friends.

2 comments

  1. It’s interesting isn’t it? Getting the balance with the noise. As you say, sometimes noise is good creative stuff – when do you stop?

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