A lot of us often underestimate the ability of a well-calibrated chart in creating visual representations. These are such powerful tools! Instead of the usual boring numbers that are often indecipherable to the untrained eye, charts will help present your data through a new perspective. Whether you are submitting information from a specific area or a huge crowd, charts in excel can help you state these facts in such a fun way.
In Excel, a chart refers to a tool that allows you to visualize data such as numbers and percentages. Businesses and other entities use them to present an informative diagram or a model creatively. You can give your calculations a more physical, more understandable face through a more visual instrument in the form of charts.
Whoever said that graphs need to be dull, artless objects? Perhaps they didn’t know the myriad ways a chart can be more creative and informative. Here are a few tips in giving form to your printable chart and having an easy time doing it.
There are different types of graphs. Before you go on designing one, pick one first. Whether it be a line or a pie chart, make sure that your chosen table can contain all your data. You may also check out creative chart samples for ideas.
This is what titles are for, to give a general outline of what your chart is. Make your audience want to read more. Remove unnecessary words from your content. This also means that you should avoid using articles (a, an, the) because this will give your caption a useless added length.
It is pretty easy to make your chart both orderly and visually pleasing. For example, you can arrange your vertical bar graphs from the tallest to shortest to make it look more organized. Try to put your figure at the center of the space rather than the edge. An extra second spent on this tiny detail can make a lot of difference in your chart’s overall look. You can look into flow charts for ideas.
You don’t need them. Your chart can look cleaner without these unnecessary designs. Plus, your chart design will have more emphasis since there’s nothing behind it that can interrupt your audience’s attention. Fonts are not exactly necessary. Your chart can also make do without shadows and outlines. If the designs don’t help with the message you are trying to express, get rid of it.
Excel gives you the chance to manipulate data sets which you can organize into visualizations. Not only that, but it allows you to access automated existing data sets and to customize them.
Surface charts allow you to display data on a 3D landscape. While creative, they are not as complicated as they may seem. For a more critical, more complex data set, surface charts are ideal, for they allow you to see a lot of information simultaneously.
This type of chart is most useful to investors and business people. Stock charts help you with predicting where a stock is going next. This type is a little more complicated than the first line chart and may be difficult to understand, but with practice, this chart is your best tool in business.
According to a Forbes article, your choice in design can improve and ease the understanding of your audience. Keep that in mind, when you are creating your charts. By dividing your data into a table, you can reduce your audience’s burden of interpreting a large amount of information. Creating charts may sound complicated, but using excel and all its available tools will make the job easier and more enjoyable!