Tuesday, January 19, 2010

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Guide to Information Graphics




















Last week I found this remarkable guide on the new books shelf at my public library. It is subtitled: The Dos and Don’ts of Presenting Data, Facts, and Figures. Dona M. Wong crammed it with clear, easy to read guidance for anyone who uses charts and graphs. You can preview a sample here.

If you use Excel or PowerPoint, then you need to read this book from cover to cover, which will not take long. This 157-page book contains about 500 graphics, and defines the phrase “profusely illustrated.” The list price is $30, but Amazon sells it for $20. Borrow it or buy it!

Dona spent the past nine years as the graphics director for the Wall Street Journal. Before that she was the graphics editor for the daily Business, Sunday Business, and Monday Media Business sections in the New York Times. She has an MFA from Yale on information design, and her thesis advisor was Edward Tufte.

The image shown above is based on the very first graphic from her introduction.

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