The document discusses creating effective data visualizations in Excel, emphasizing the importance of understanding stakeholders' needs and using iterative design. It outlines a structured approach to visual creation, including sketching, reducing clutter, and crafting meaningful titles that convey messages clearly. Additionally, it provides resources and tools for design and color selection to enhance visual impact.

1. MAY 14, 2014
CREATING
FUNCTIONAL
ART IN EXCEL
AMANDA MAKULEC
DATA VISUALIZATION AT JSI

2. FOUR THINGS TO CONSIDER
WHO ARE THE STAKEHOLDERS?
WHAT INFO DO THEY NEED?
HOW WILL THEY USE IT?
WHY DO THEY CARE?

3. BEAUTIFUL VISUALIZATIONS REQUIRE ITERATION

4. START WITH A SKETCH
Sketch to start…
and you’ll work your way
to something beautiful.

5. CHOOSE A CHART TYPE THAT MEETS YOUR DATA NEEDS

6. COUNT THE 5’S
5 6 6 9 5 1 6 8 1 2
6 4 1 2 2 5 7 3 9 4
3 4 8 1 9 4 9 1 5 5
8 7 3 5 6 4 2 1 5 8
7 6 4 9 2 1 9 5 1 4
9 5 6 9 5 8 5 3 6 9
2 2 5 8 7 1 3 6 3 8
5 9 6 5 4 2 7 9 5 2

7. COUNT THE 5’S
5 6 6 9 5 1 6 8 1 2
6 4 1 2 2 5 7 3 9 4
3 4 8 1 9 4 9 1 5 5
8 7 3 5 6 4 2 1 5 8
7 6 4 9 2 1 9 5 1 4
9 5 6 9 5 8 5 3 6 9
2 2 5 8 7 1 3 6 3 8
5 9 6 5 4 2 7 9 5 2

8. DRAW ATTENTION TO WHAT’S IMPORTANT: PREATTENTIVE ATTRIBUTES

9. DRAW ATTENTION TO WHAT’S IMPORTANT: GESTALT PRINCIPLES

10. COLOR | SHAPES | SIZE
MAPS | SHADING

11. BUILDING
VISUALIZATIONS
IN EXCEL

12. DOWNLOAD THE DATA TO PLAY ALONG
GO TO:
TINYURL.COM/WORLDPOPDATA
DOWNLOAD THE EXCEL
SPREADSHEET AT THE LINK

13. ANATOMY OF A CHART

14. STEP ONE
Draw some sketches &
then create electronically.

15. SKETCH FIRST

16. LET’S START HERE

17. STEP TWO
Reduce the clutter

18. STEP THREE
Add meaningful labels.

19. STEP FOUR
Emphasize with color.

20. STEP FIVE
Add meaningful titles.

21. ON CREATING TITLES
State your takeaway message in the title
Generic Better Best
Readers have to spend precious
time decoding charts with generic
titles.
The title gives details about what
the indicators are, but does not tell
a story.
The title tells the story explicitly
and clearly, giving your reader the
message.
Figure: Total Population Total Population by World
Bank Country Income
Classification
The proportion of the global
population living in middle
income countries has grown
over the past 50 years, now
estimated at 70% of the
world's population.
Your title needs may change depending
on your audience: scientific journals
may require a different title than a web-
based communications product.

23. VIZ MAKEOVER

27. READY FOR ROUND 2? URBANIZATION DATA VIZ ACTIVITY
% of population living in an urban setting
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
East Asia & Pacific 22.4647224.84152 27.49883 33.65413 41.21955 51.6696
Europe & Central Asia 55.2119560.63047 64.68612 67.43591 68.24317 69.97876
Latin America & Caribbean 49.25997 57.0116664.25289 70.29534 75.44325 78.79903
Middle East & North Africa 34.98355 42.821349.55351 54.84566 58.64444 62.58201
Sub-Saharan Africa 14.7485419.33165 23.62453 27.90688 31.99966 35.93099
South Asia 16.72588 18.6511222.32985 25.02435 27.33532 30.60301
East Asia & Pacific (developing only) 16.9152418.77601 21.335728.15679 36.64623 47.5415
Europe & Central Asia (developing only) 39.1543645.88226 51.18321 56.77231 57.55644 59.49709
Latin America & Caribbean (developing only) 48.3857256.26412 63.68319 69.93737 75.05648 78.45927
Middle East & North Africa (developing only) 33.9218441.15169 46.94968 51.67239 55.54996 58.98237
Sub-Saharan Africa (developing only) 14.7365919.32403 23.62208 27.90184 31.99435 35.92825

28. DESIGN
RESOURCES &
TOOLS

29. BOOKS
PEOPLE TO READ
Stephen Few
Show Me the
Numbers
Edward Tufte
The Visual Display
of Quantitative
Information
Alberto Cairo
The Functional Art:
An Introduction to
Information
Graphics
Cole
Nussbaumer
Storytelling
withdata.com

31. TOOLS
COLOR-HEX
COLOR ORACLE
COLOR BREWER Simple tool for picking palettes
Originally for maps
Simulates color blindness
Great for checking your viz
Technical info on color models
Generates CSS codes

32. QUESTIONS?