An area chart showing the great powers' share of GDP. The story is unclear and the visual is confusing.
A slope chart that clearly shows the projected rise in GDP for China and India, and the slower rise in the GDP of the US, EU, Japan and other wealthy nations.
A line chart showing Romania's birth rate rocketing after Ceaucescu banned abortion and birth control.
A line chart showing Romania's birth rate rocketing after Ceaucescu banned abortion and birth control. The story is more visible.
A line chart showing Hong Kong's period of deflation after 1997. The inflation rate drops below zero for five years.
An area chart showing Hong Kong's period of deflation after 1997. The bold, filled shapes tell a more dramatic story.
Small multiple line charts showing fertility rates dropping sharply in the Middle East and East Asia. The two regions are coloured differently - Middle East is pink and East Asia is blue.
Small multiple area charts showing fertility rates dropping sharply in the Middle East and East Asia. The coloured fill below the line makes the drop more visible.
Small multiple line charts showing flatling divorce rates in the northern Protestant countries of Europe, and rising divorce rates (from a low base) in the Catholic South.
Small multiple area charts showing flatling divorce rates in the northern Protestant countries of Europe, and rising divorce rates in the Catholic South. The fill makes the change more visible.
An unclear area chart showing rising GDP in wealthy nations.
A much clearer small multiple area chart - here it is clear than China's projected GDP will rise sharply by 2060, as will India's. The GDP of other wealthy countries will rise more slowly.
A side by side area chart that should be overlapping. It shows immigration to America from Europe dropping in the twentieth century while immigration from other regions rises.
An overlapping area chart. It clearly shows immigration to America from Europe dropping in the twentieth century while immigration from other regions rises.
The first part of a walkthrough using an area chart. The total number of refugees is now the highest in history.
The second part of a walkthrough. We now see the largest section of the area chart - refugees from Syria.
We now see the large numbers of refugees from sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Sudan and South Sudan.
In the final chart, we see the consistently high numbers of refugees from Afghanistan. About half of all refugees come from three countries - Syria, South Sudan or Afghanistan.
An unclear area chart showing rising GDP in wealthy countries.
An area chart with just China and India highlighted and base aligned, so it is clear that their rapidly-rising projected GDP is driving the change in the overall total.
An area chart where the key categories are not base-aligned which makes the story unclear.
An area chart where the key categories are base-aligned. Now it is clear that the rise is cocoa production is being driven by Cote D'Ivoire and Indonesia.
Area chart showing Russian fossil fuel exports plunging after the Ukraine invasion. However, the colours clash making us lose track of the central story.
An area chart showing Russia's fossil fuel exports dropping. Now the use of analogous colours makes us see the drop in the total first, which is clearer.
An area chart with complimentary colours, which can be visually jarring.
An area chart with distinct but not clashing colours. Now the key story - how the average male income cannot cover major household expenses in the US - is much clearer.
The same area chart as above - but with the opacity decreased, so it looks less like an overlapping area chart.
The same area chart on a dark background.
Chart showing how poverty has reduced in all regions, but not sub-Saharan Africa. The fill's opacity has been reduced to make the labels more legible.
The same chart on a dark background.
Chart showing how the Democrats have driven the rise in the number of female legislators in the US. The fills link to the party colours.
Chart showing how peru has exported 600% more fruit over the last decade, rivalling chilli. The fill colours map to the fruit colours (roughly).
A stacked area that makes it look like white marble has remained popular
A 100% stacked area tells the story of the decline of white marble more clearly.
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