One of the challenges with large datasets is how easy it is to get bogged down in detail. Turning a ‘spaghetti’ chart into something meaningful has its challenges. It’s something we do regularly and we have a good example of that below.

When you visualise raw data, it’s the small decisions that can make a big difference to the story you want to tell.

To demonstrate this, we loaded some crime stats from the SA Police Service into Flourish, which produced a very colourful spaghetti chart. It’s clear there’s a lot going on there, but impossible to work out the point.



Here’s how we try and make some sense of the data:

Colour can improve understanding

Colour is a powerful communication tool but less is (almost always) more. Because we wanted to show that Inanda police station recorded the highest number of murders in 2023, we’ve used red as the primary colour, brought the line to the front and made it bold.

We’ve kept the other stations to provide context but as it is supportive rather than primary information, we’ve used a neutral colour to help de-emphasise it.

Make sure the labels are legible

It’s pointless including information if it is hard to read. The labels on the original chart were at an angle and in grey, which is seldom a good choice for text as it can look blurred.

Here, we’ve aligned the text horizontally and put it in a bigger font and in black. It’s much clearer and cleaner.

Don’t leave readers hanging

Information such as scale, range and actual quantities should be included to ensure that the chart is understood correctly.

In our chart, we’ve labelled the y-axis to indicate what is represented – the number of murders reported. We’ve also dropped the zero to clean up the visual clutter. Most people will (correctly) assume that the y-axis starts at zero.

White space is a design tool

Giving a chart space (or ‘breathing room’) reduces the appearance of clutter and makes the whole chart easier to read. Also, making sure the margins around your chart are equal makes the chart feel balanced. 

Words make a chart

Adding a title to the chart frames the purpose of a chart. The title helps readers quickly grasp your main message. The aim is to be succinct, but also as descriptive as possible.

Don’t forget to include a source. Every dataset has an origin and, without it, a chart loses credibility.

To recap…

✅ Use colour to create focus
✅ Add missing units of measure
✅ Make labels easy to read
✅ Clean up with good spacing
✅ Sum it all up with a succinct headline
✅ Always include a source

Notebook

🍒 Get The Outlier’s free guide to unlocking the power of colour