Edward Tufte Quotes
-
Here's the general theory: To clarify, add detail. Imagine that. To clarify, add detail. And clutter and overload are not an attribute of information, they are failures of design. If the information is in chaos, don't start throwing out information, instead fix the design.
→ -
Confusion and clutter are failures of design, not attributes of information. And so the point is to find design strategies that reveal detail and complexity - rather than to fault the data for an excess of complication. Or, worse, to fault viewers for a lack of understanding.
→ -
Clutter is not a property of information. Clutter is a failure of design.
→ -
There is no such thing as information overload, just bad design. If something is cluttered and/or confusing, fix your design.
→ -
What is to be sought in designs for the display of information is the clear portrayal of complexity. Not the complication of the simple; rather the task of the designer is to give visual access to the subtle and the difficult - that is, revelation of the complex.
→ -
If the statistics are boring, you've got the wrong numbers.
→ -
The best graphics are about the useful and important, about life and death, about the universe. Beautiful graphics do not traffic with the trivial.
→ -
Great design is not democratic; it comes from great designers. If the standard is lousy, then develop another standard.
→ -
I hope that I am generous and tolerant, but certainly on the intellectual side I think that there are discoverable truths, and some things that are closer approximations to the truth than others.
→ -
Public discussions are part of what it takes to make changes in the trillions of graphics published each year.
→ -
The world is much more interesting than any one discipline.
→ -
Make all visual distinctions as subtle as possible, but still clear and effective.
→ -
Clutter and confusion are failures of design, not attributes of information.
→ -
Science and art have in common intense seeing, the wide-eyed observing that generates empirical information.
→ -
I was writing a chapter of Beautiful Evidence on the subject of the sculptural pedestal, which led to my thinking about what's up on the pedestal - the great leader.
→ -
I do believe that there are some universal cognitive tasks that are deep and profound - indeed, so deep and profound that it is worthwhile to understand them in order to design our displays in accord with those tasks.
→ -
An open mind but not an empty head.
→ -
Only drug dealers and software companies call their customers 'users'
→ -
Graphical excellence is that which gives to the viewer the greatest number of ideas in the shortest time with the least ink in the smallest space.
→ -
A curious consequence is that I have become a minor celebrity.
→ -
The speculative part of my work is that these particular cognitive tasks - ways of thinking analytically - are tied to nature's laws.
→ -
Simple design, intense content.
→ -
The minimum we should hope for with any display technology is that it should do no harm.
→ -
The idea of trying to create things that last-forever knowledge-has guided my work for a long time now.
→ -
PowerPoint is like being trapped in the style of early Egyptian flatland cartoons rather than using the more effective tools of Renaissance visual representation.
→ -
Beautiful Evidence is about the theory and practice of analytical design.
→ -
Allowing artist-illustrators to control the design and content of statistical graphics is almost like allowing typographers to control the content, style, and editing of prose.
→ -
Good design is a lot like clear thinking made visual.
→ -
There are many true statements about complex topics that are too long to fit on a PowerPoint slide.
→ -
There are only two industries that refer to their customers as 'users'.
→
Related Authors
-
John Tukey Statistician -
Robert A. Dahl Political scientist -
Hans Rosling Professor -
Otto Neurath Philosopher -
William Nordhaus Professor -
Ben Shneiderman Computer Scientist -
George E. P. Box Statistician -
Jakob Nielsen Usability consultant -
-
Richard Saul Wurman Architect -
Ronald Fisher Statistician -
David Mccandless Journalist -
Robert Bringhurst Poet -
Donald A. Norman Author -
Paul Rand Graphic Designer -
Chris Ware Artist -
Richard P. Feynman Physicist -
Nancy Duarte Writer -
Debby Applegate Historian -
Corita Kent Artist