Comments on: Free Graph Icon Set – Smashing Magazine

By: DSA Insights » Blog Archive » DSA Insights - Best of November

DSA Insights » Blog Archive » DSA Insights - Best of November — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:30:06 +0000

[...] Free Graph Icon – Smashing Magazine [...]

By: Robert Kosara

Robert Kosara — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 19:12:10 +0000

I was referring to their "Modern Approaches to Data Visualization" articles in 2007 and 2008. There are a few good examples that slipped in, but most of it is bad - flashy and interesting to look at, but does not convey any information. When googling for these pages, I typed in "flashing magazine" by mistake ...

By: Peter Walker

Peter Walker — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:24:14 +0000

TB wrote, “I have a simple rule of thumb: the flashier the graph, the more I question the presenter and his data.”

Exactly.

By: Jon Peltier

Jon Peltier — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:40:29 +0000

Derek -

This is from the first paragraph of the ironically titled What happened to my favorite Excel 2003 Chart feature?:

“You can now create professional-looking charts with special effects, such as realistic 3-D, transparency, and soft shadows.”

Clowns indeed.

By: tb

tb — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:10:23 +0000

“During work on various corporate projects I often find myself in the need of simple graphs to show the success of my client ”

He says he needs to show the success of his client. That is very different from presenting data for analytical purposes.

I have a simple rule of thumb: the flashier the graph, the more I question the presenter and his data.

By: derek

derek — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:20:15 +0000

Whenever I see the word “professional” applied to multicolored freak shows that look like a CNN intro, I can only imagine the profession they have in mind is “clown”.

By: Tony

Tony — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:01:21 +0000

@Peter @John – I would have to politely disagree with the point about these being good icons. If you want to see an example of an excellent icon, check out the favicon at this site: http://tinyurl.com/gyvnk. A favicon is the little symbol to the left of the URL box in your browser.

@Robert – By taking a look at their site, I would agree with your statement. What really put me over the edge was the comments that were left praising the design.

Let me put this question out there: What do you do if your manager is not a data guru and expects flashy and gaudy? Do you appease them or go against the flow?

By: Peter Walker

Peter Walker — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:20:13 +0000

Tony wrote:

“What do you do if your manager is not a data guru and expects flashy and gaudy?”

You start with the key principle: Keep It Simple. Use color to add the flash, but do so sparingly. I prefer subdued hues, so a louder color would make a charts pop.

The message is more powerful when you clear all the clutter and noise and draw people into the information. You hold their attention rather than distract them with cool borders and angles.

Design should enhance the message, not distract from it.

By: Peter Walker

Peter Walker — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:53:28 +0000

Considering the creator’s goal was to “with a professional look and feel”, I say gaudy.

I agree with John, they make nice icons, but the design will interfere with properly presenting real information.

By: John Nevill

John Nevill — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:42:02 +0000

If used solely as an icon to represent a report, dashboard, presentation, etc. these are pretty cool; however, it appears that the author’s intentions are to use these as a display to represent real data. In that case, these are abysmal. May the laptops of those who use these for true data visualizations snap shut and cleave their hands from their wrists.