Presented to my information visualisation students on 20 April 2015.

1. Information visualisation
Data ink design principles
20 April 2015
Erik Duval
Dept. Computerwetenschappen, KULeuven
http://erikduval.wordpress.com & @ErikDuval
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2. Tufte’s principles
• Above all else show the data
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3. • Data ink:“non-erasable core of a graphic...”
(Tufte, 1983)
• Data-ink ratio
= data-ink / total ink
= Proportion of a graphic’s ink devoted to
the non-redundant display of data-
information.
= 1.0 – proportion of graphic that can be
erased without the loss of information
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4. Tufte’s principles
• Maximise the data-ink ratio, within reason
• Erase non-data ink, within reason
• Erase redundant data-ink
• Revise and edit
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5. 5
source:
Joey
Cherdarchuk

6. 6
<0.05
source:
Joey
Cherdarchuk

7. 7
source:
Joey
Cherdarchuk

8. 8
source:
Joey
Cherdarchuk

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source:
Joey
Cherdarchuk

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source:
Joey
Cherdarchuk

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source:
Joey
Cherdarchuk

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source:
Joey
Cherdarchuk

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source:
Joey
Cherdarchuk

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source:
Joey
Cherdarchuk

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source:
Joey
Cherdarchuk

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source:
Joey
Cherdarchuk

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source:
Joey
Cherdarchuk

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source:
Joey
Cherdarchuk

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source:
Joey
Cherdarchuk

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source:
Joey
Cherdarchuk

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source:
Joey
Cherdarchuk

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source:
Joey
Cherdarchuk

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source:
Joey
Cherdarchuk

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source:
Joey
Cherdarchuk

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source:
Joey
Cherdarchuk

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source:
Joey
Cherdarchuk

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source:
Joey
Cherdarchuk

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source:
Joey
Cherdarchuk

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source:
Joey
Cherdarchuk

30. “Perfection is achieved not
when there is nothing more
to add, but when there is
nothing left to take away”
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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31. ?
@ErikDuval
h.p://erikduval.wordpress.com
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