Editing Chartjunk (section)

{{Short description|Term for unnecessary visual elements in charts}}
[[File:Chartjunk-example.svg|thumb|An example of a chart containing gratuitous chartjunk. This chart uses a large area and much "ink" (many symbols and lines) to show only five hard-to-read numbers, 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16.]]

'''Chartjunk''' consists of all visual elements in [[chart]]s and graphs that are not necessary to comprehend the information represented on the graph, or that distract the viewer from this information.<ref name="Tufte 1983">{{cite book | title=The Visual Display of Quantitative Information | url=https://archive.org/details/visualdisplayofq0000tuft | url-access=registration | publisher=Cheshire, CT: [[Graphics Press]] | last=Tufte | first=Edward R. | year=1983}}</ref><ref name="harris">{{cite book|last=Harris|first=Robert L.|title=Information Graphics: A Comprehensive Illustrated Reference|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=1999|location=USA|isbn=0-19-513532-6|page=72}}</ref><ref name="Tufte 2006">{{cite book|last=Tufte|first=Edward R.|title=Beautiful Evidence|url=https://archive.org/details/beautifulevidenc00tuft|url-access=limited|year=2006|publisher=[[Graphics Press]]|location=Cheshire, CT|isbn=978-0961392178|pages=[https://archive.org/details/beautifulevidenc00tuft/page/n142 152]–53}}</ref>

Markings and visual elements can be called chartjunk if they are not part of the minimum set of visuals necessary to communicate the information understandably.  Examples of unnecessary elements that might be called chartjunk include heavy or dark grid lines, unnecessary text, inappropriately complex or gimmicky [[font]] faces, ornamented chart axes, and display frames, pictures, backgrounds or icons within data graphs, ornamental shading and unnecessary dimensions.

Another kind of chartjunk skews the depiction and makes it difficult to understand the real data being displayed.  Examples of this type include items depicted out of scale to one another, noisy backgrounds making comparison between elements difficult in a chart or graph, and 3-D simulations in [[Line chart|line]] and [[bar chart]]s.

[[File:Macedonian statistical regions - it.png|thumb|A map of [[North Macedonia]] with chartjunk: the gradients inside each province do not provide useful information]]
The term ''chartjunk'' was coined by [[Edward Tufte]] in his 1983 book ''The Visual Display of Quantitative Information''.<ref name="Tufte 1983" /> Tufte wrote:

{{blockquote|The interior decoration of graphics generates a lot of ink that does not tell the viewer anything new. The purpose of decoration varies&mdash;to make the graphic appear more scientific and precise, to enliven the display, to give the designer an opportunity to exercise artistic skills. Regardless of its cause, it is all non-data-ink or redundant data-ink, and it is often chartjunk.}}

The term is relatively recent and is often associated with Tufte in other references.<ref name="harris"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Cleveland|first=William S.|title=The Elements of Graphing Data|url=https://archive.org/details/elementsgraphing00clev_086|url-access=limited|publisher=Wadsworth & Advanced Book Program|year=1985|location=Pacific Grove, CA|isbn=0-534-03730-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/elementsgraphing00clev_086/page/n33 25]}}</ref>