Chartjunk
"The interior decoration of graphics generates a lot of ink that does not • tell the viewer anything new. The purpose of decoration varies — to make the • graphic appear more scientific and precise, to enliven the display, to give • the designer an opportunity to exercise artistic skills." — Edward Tufte
What I see and like
A weather almanac that resists every temptation to decorate. No cartoon suns, no gradient skies — just a band of daily highs and lows across the year. It trusts the data to be interesting, and it is.
The three species of chartjunk
Tufte names the offenders. Learn to spot each on sight.
1. MOIRE VIBRATION 2. THE GRID 3. THE DUCK //////////////// +--+--+--+--+ +-----------+ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ | | | | | | ( o o ) | decoration //////////////// +--+--+--+--+ | \__/ | shaped like \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ | | | | | | the data | the subject hatching that loud rulings that +-----------+ overwhelms shimmers and buzzes cage the numbers the number itself
The duck
When the decoration becomes the structure — a museum shaped like a duck, a bar chart drawn as stacked coins — the graphic is a duck. Form has eaten content.
| Symptom | Example |
|---|---|
| Object-shaped bars | Dollars drawn as stacks of coins |
| Pictorial axes | Mountains for "growth", arrows for "decline" |
| Theme over data | A space chart rendered as actual stars |
Vibration and the grid
Dense hatching and dark gridlines fight the eye. Mute the grid until it whispers; let the data sit on top, not behind bars.
BEFORE AFTER
||grid||grid||grid|| . . . (grid muted to faint dots)
| ## | ## | ## | ## ## ## (data floats above)
||grid||grid||grid|| . . .
Key takeaways
- Chartjunk = ink that decorates instead of informs.
- Watch for moiré vibration, heavy grids, and the duck.
- Mute the scaffolding; never let it compete with the data.
Checklist
- [ ] No hatching or texture that shimmers
- [ ] Gridlines are muted or gone
- [ ] The graphic is not shaped like its subject