In my workshops, one common question is how to best display numbers of very different magnitudes. In this post, I explore several potential approaches, remaking a less-than-ideal visual from the media.

I've commented in the past about the important role that text plays in data visualization: in short, it helps to make the information you provide more accessible to your audience. But where should you place your text for it to best play its role? When it comes to chart and axis titles and legend, my recommendation is to left uppermost justify. Check out this post, where I outline my thinking on this topic and illustrate via example.

This is one rule of data visualization that I see broken too often: when it comes to bar charts, the y-axis must begin at zero. Check out this post, where we'll look at a specific example and discuss why.

Gridlines typically act as nothing more than clutter, unnecessarily competing for attention with your data. Don't let them. In this post, I discuss gridlines, why they usually aren't necessary and look at an example illustrating the power removing gridlines from your visuals can have.

Looking at David McCandless' illustration of what makes for effective information design inspired me to articulate my own point of view. In this post, I briefly discuss the importance of affordances, accessibility, and aesthetics in data visualization.

I recently tested out the Circos tool for visualizing matrix data. In this post, I discuss my trial and some general considerations (both pros and cons) when it comes to using "sexy" or novel data visualizations.