The Handelsblatt website now does sparklines. Nice actually. If only they really were sparklines. Lines in the Handelsblatt articles. Source: handelsblatt.com/4066396, 2011-04-15. Funny: The line for [...]

This one took me a while. Looks harmless. The biggest one on bottom, the smallest one on top. Together they are decreasing. Got it. The strongest drop is Chrysler. The second-strongest Ford. The least [...]

You already know this: Don´t chart things in a map that don’t belong in a map. In 1945 The Economist tried it. Distorted territory size, proportional to the Gross National Income, in The Economist [...]

I´m feeling weak. My beautiful nose is dripping. I’m coughing. Am I sick? I take my temperature. With my new digital thermometer. Perfectly readable. 38.6 degree Celsius. I google how sick I am. It’s [...]

The diagram in my last posting is a pitfall. Do you remember? Japan is too old. Look at it again. If you use columns, you must not use a logarithmic scale. If the values spread widely, you must use a [...]

Standard & Poor’s gives Japan bad marks. AA- instead of AA. Japan spends more than it earns. And it is too old. That’s what this diagram in the Journal wants to show. Quelle: Source: Wall Street [...]

Rupert deletes out algebraic signs in the Wall Street Journal. And draws triangles instead. Red and green. We already had this. Not good. Source: Wall Street Journal Europe, 2010-10-25, page 1. However [...]

A value has changed by 2 %. In total. A few effects have improved it. Others have worsened it. The effects and their differences should be visible. And must not be squeezed. Therefore 10 billions are [...]

Drawing pictograms is difficult. The Financial Times divides humans into four and amputates arms. Horrible. A little man represents 500 people. A loose arm 150. Strange currency. Source: Financial Times [...]

Last time: Spoiling shadows. Today: enlightening shadows. Sometimes a column is more imporant than another. Then it is highlighted. That works good with shadows. As we see here. Source: Wall Street [...]

I like figures. And tables. And figures also like tables. A chart has to prove first, that it is better. But some tables look like zebras. The stripes group. The contrast changes. The readability suffers [...]

One of my rules for all charts: My rules are not for all charts. In an issue of the USA Today: How do youth hockey players injure. Very often somehow. And quite often others. Intentionally. A decogram [...]

Even the German Constitution is concerned with charts. Human beings must not be shrunk. See Article 1. This also applies to politicians. And the German newspaper Handelsblatt. Source: Handelsblatt, no [...]

All school children learn: Go with green. Stop at red. Green is good. Red is bad. Stick to this and you're less likely to be run over. Traffic lights are simple. Prices are not. For some it's good if [...]

Drawing charts is geometry. Like in school. In a coordinate system. With zero in the center. Negative values to the left. Or at the bottom. Positive values to the right. Or at the top. Negative values [...]

More is more in time series. The longer, the more we can see. And learn. For example: The States has never bought as many houses as in 2005. And since 1964 not as few as today. Source: Financial Times [...]

In many charts you see changing backgrounds, colors, contrasts. They should separate what is side-by-side. But they connect what is separated. The eye looks out for meaning. The Wall Street Journal [...]

Bernhard commented on my book. He says: I look exquisitely beautiful. And he says: My book does not remain open. That is true. It is really stubborn. One has to bend it to remain open.

Paper is flatland. Houses are 3D land. To see 3D land on paper, perspective has been invented. Not easy to deal with. Otherwise houses are leaning. And sometimes not even doors fit. Photos by Hannes [...]

Sometimes we´ve got little data. Which can be counted with just four paws. It´s good to show that. As in the Wall Street Journal. 52 economists were ask where they expect the next bubble to emerge in [...]

Now it's the World Cup. Germany was against England. And won. 4:1. Without extra time, without penalty shootout. The English don´t like penalties. This has been discussed a lot. Where to shoot? Top [...]

Our eyes read lines like this: flat line = little change. Inclined line = more change. Steeply inclined line = a lot more change. It's all wrong here. You believe right increases more than left. Wrong. Scales [...]

I was tough on red. It's a signal for bad. What do we use for good? Green? Possible. Blue? Possible, too. I am generous with colors for good. Thus, this chart is okay. (Not the numbers: aggregated without [...]

Say it like that: A company is in the black. Or in the red. E.ON colors all numbers in red. Also columns, bars, lines. Investments. Prices. Dividends. Increase in capacity. Decrease in capacity [...]

To make eye-catchers: ok. To make diagrams from data: always. To make eye-catchers from data: know-how needed. Taste helps. And respect. The five most frequent causes of death within a year, in countries [...]

I like simple. But not more simple. Some road signs in Germany are renewed. And more modern. And more illogical. Because details are missing. It´s like with fonts. It´s good for reading when letters [...]

The Financial Times folded flags. To little houses. Cut apart. And distorted. Totally. 11 is hardly as large as 22. With the flags it's mean. The scaling is even meaner. The chart is bad und nothing fits [...]