Tutorials – FlowingData

Now that we've discovered another way to annoy chart snobs, here's how you can make your own spirals.

Also known as ridgelines, use the method to create a compact visualization where you can easily identify major patterns and outliers.

You could use a package, but then you couldn't customize every single element, and where's the fun in that?

You don't have to use illustration software to polish your graphics. If keeping everything in R is your thing, this tutorial is for you.

Adjust coordinates, geometries, and encodings with packed circles to make various types of charts.

Here's how to do it in R from start to finish, plus editing in illustration software. Make design choices and trade-offs for more readable charts.

When you want to compare between three parts of your data, ternary plots might be a good option. Here is how to make them.

Also known as trellis charts, lattice chart, or whatever you want to call them, the technique lets you compare several categories in one view.

Beeswarm charts are useful to highlight individual categories or entities. Animating them can help highlight change over time.

Marimekko charts, or mosaic plots, allow you to compare categories over two quantitative variables.

Using geometric shapes as an encoding can provide another dimension to your charts.

Heatmaps quickly translate data tables into a visual form, making them a great tool to explore a new dataset.

Put multiple time series lines on the same plot, and you quickly end up with a mess. Here are practical ways to clean it up.

Show current evolution against expected historical variability and add one or more series that could account for the difference.

Using a spiral might not be the best way to encode data. But here's how to do it anyway. Just in case.

Also known as a bivariate area chart, the plot type focuses on the comparison between two time series.

Make them move to show a shift in distributions over time.

Quickly see what's below and above average through the noise and seasonal trends.