If you are inspired -and maybe also a bit overwhelmed- by all the great examples of data visualisation in this post, you probably want to use visualisations more often for yourself as well. The question of course is which chart you should chose for your data. The answer, of course, is “It depends”.

Some general guidelines:

• Less is more: Edward Tufte introduced the ‘data to ink ratio’ for this. “Data looks better naked”
• Don’t use 3D in your visualisation
• Don’t use pie charts

It’s also always good to have a look at some charts that could be better

Aside from these general guidelines, Michiel Dullaert’s chart guide is a great place to help you choose the right chart!