Tips for Creating Better Charts

• Orient horizontally all letters, numbers, words, and phrases in headings, legends, and labels.

• On flowcharts, begin in the upper left corner and proceed to the right and down, ending in the lower right corner of the chart. Use arrows to indicate direction of flow.

• Structure an organization chart from the top down, using solid lines to indicate direct relationships and dotted or dashed lines to indicate indirect relationships.

• On pie charts, identify each sector of the pie and, if appropriate, the percentage it represents. Ensure that the size of each sector reflects the data it represents, and differentiate adjacent pie sectors by using different fill patterns or colors.

• On bar charts, clearly label each bar, making the bars wider than the spaces between them. Use different bar patterns to indicate differences in types of data and provide a legend that identifies the bars.

• Place footnotes and source information below the chart.