13.4 Reduce clutter

Every element should encode data, explain the data, or help the reader navigate. Remove redundant legends, borders, decoration, unnecessary gridlines, and repeated labels. This reflects the data-ink principle (Tufte 2001).

Do not remove units, reference lines, uncertainty, denominators, or source information merely to make a chart look cleaner. Minimalism is not useful when it removes meaning.

Design at the final size. A figure that works on a full monitor may fail when placed on half a report page or projected in a room. Enlarge essential labels, remove detail that cannot be read, and export at sufficient resolution.

References

Tufte, Edward R. 2001. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. 2nd ed. Graphics Press.