Sure, leave out the barely legible labels so it doesn’t look like a wargame in progress.

What would you recommend in place of the color coded % stacked barchart? (A table? Surely not pie charts!)

Thanks. I was very pleased by your comment and I’m glad to know that you’ll have a new style guide. Will it be publicly available?

If everyone shares a core set of values and skills probably a style guide is not needed and each publication could have its own “personality”.

I wrote this post exactly because I don’t see those sets of values and skills at work. I think the post is clear, but let me emphasize this: its not a matter of pretty vs. ugly charts. Its a matter of broken information displays. And they can’t be fixed by a graphic designer (I see this mistake too often).

of course there will be a reply to Jorge’s comments (and Eurostat is just about to finish a style guide).

On the style guide issue: my personal opinion is that although style guides are necessary in public organisations, there is nevertheless a certain trade-off between such guides and creativity of authors. It is like the difference between a glossy commercial brochure (more beautiful but sometimes boring) and an individual creative product (sometimes more ugly but often more interesting and appropriate because the author remains free in his choices). Of course, clear mistakes regarding dissemination should be avoided.

Best regards,

Matthias

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The views expressed are those of the writer and may not in any circumstances be considered as stating an official position of the European Commission (Eurostat)…

Bernd