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Ask any dataviz expert and they will tell you there aren’t many things as annoying as the wrong use of data visualizations. Well, duh. It’s easy to say if your job is to know all about it. But what about the rest of us? What about those who don’t make a face when they look at a simple pie chart? How do we know when to pick the right chart type and avoid disapproval from the entire community of dataviz geeks and lovers? First and foremost, ask yourself what is it you actually want to show and who is your audience? Sounds simple, I know. But remember, you can’t please everyone. And sometimes, a pie chart is really fine. We don’t hate on pie charts and actually, there are cases when they’re quite appropriate charts to use to communicate data. Yes, you can try to explore variations and alternatives to different chart types, it is encouraged. But before you gather all of your data and start creating beautiful graphs and visualizations, take a step back for a second and think. Who do you want to show your data to? Are the viewers equally knowledgeable in dataviz best practices? It’s very likely that you just want to present your information to someone who needs to easily understand it. For this reason, it’s equally important to consider the right type of data visualization for you. Read this article if you want to learn about the way you can display your data and how to tell your data story to your specific audience. Now, if you want to include different charts and graphs in your final product, it’s a great next step to explore your options. There are many, many chart types and we won’t be able to cover all of them. In this article, we will show you some of the most important charts that can effectively convey a message and communicate your data, creating engaging data storytelling for your readers. Below, you might find charts you are familiar with and some that are less common. Either way, we hope you explore all chart types and find the most suitable ones for you and your data visualization project. The list consists of eighty types of charts and graphs, many of which you can create online for free with the Datylon web app, or with our chart maker plug-in Datylon for Illustrator. We divided the charts below into six categories that vary per use case. Sometimes, some of the charts can fall under multiple categories, so to make it easier, we only listed them once. 1. Comparison
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