At storytelling with data, we encounter a ton of different graphs. Through our work, we’ve both learned strategies for effective application and identified common pitfalls (including some things to avoid!). In this guide, we share the good and the bad of commonly used charts and graphs for data communications.

Simply click on a graph below to learn more.

If you're looking for additional graphs, and want us to expand our what is...? series, let us know in this conversation. In the meantime, use the search and filter functionality in the SWD community to discover more data storytelling examples and articles related to a specific visual (read this short post for specifics about how to use this feature). Additionally, here are the search results for some common chart queries: maps and small multiples.

To explore some of the visuals we use most at SWD, check out this post—an oldie-but-goodie!