Reading

Here are some of my favorite links from other places:

A spatial journey illustrating a very long scale, created by the Genetic Science Learning Center (here)

Long scales are very difficult to deal with in charts; I have never been satisfied with log scales since it addresses the designer's challenge of trying to fit everything onto one page, bu does not deal with the reader's need to compare the elements accurately

Not sure how this helps but perhaps some of you will figure it out

Tommi left a comment about this conceptual chart by xkcd, which has been making the rounds.  Fits into our Light Entertainment category.

Says there is no optimal chart type.  A type that works very well for one data set may get hopelessly cluttered for another, similar data set.

From fellow bloggers (especially Jorge), a whole series of views of the U.S. unemployment figures by state over time.  Alternatives that are much more interesting to look at than the typically line chart. Jorge even found something in Excel that looks good.

Comments

[Don.]

The Primer timeline is actually quite clear using that same chart type. If you check the wikipedia page for it there's a very clear graphic in a similar style that clears up the time traveling very well. Okay... nevermind, that graphic is now gone. :/ But it WAS there. :-)

[newbie]

great post. thanks for this. I really need something like this.

[chris]

great post..
thanks for shared

[D]

What is the software/process for creating the line chart series? Would they be created in a single step or are they created separately and then lined up later in a graphic package?

[Kaiser]

D: I'm not sure which line chart series you're talking about, the 10x5 or the 50x1. In any case, if you use a graphics-friendly software like R, it is not difficult to generate such charts. You define the size of the grid for which to fit the individual charts. Since the charts are "small multiples", you then use a loop to fill in the grid one chart at a time.