tufte-multifunctioning-elementslisted

# Multifunctioning Graphical Elements **Source:** *The Visual Display of Quantitative Information* (VDQI), 1983 / 2nd ed. 2001. The named design forms are introduced in **Chapter 6, "Data-Ink Maximization and Graphical Design" (pp. 123–137)**, and the unifying principle in **Chapter 7, "Multifunctioning Graphical Elements" (pp. 139–159)**, 2nd ed. *Verification note:* page citations below are verified against the 2nd ed. (2001). One figure from a prior draft — a "~87% ink reduction" — remains unverifiable and stays out; the closest published figures are the 80→10 straightedge economics (p. 125) and the 65%-erased bar chart (p. 101). ## Overview The same ink should usually do more than one job. A single graphical element can carry data *and* perform a design function normally handed to non-data-ink, or it can encode several variables at once. Designed with care, these *multifunctioning elements* pack complex, multivariate data into a small, legible space; designed carelessly, they collapse into puzzles only their inventor can read. The standard rectangular frame is the prime target: it does exactly two jobs — separating the data and grid from the surrounding labels, and hanging the tick marks (p. 139) — which is why it is the prime candidate for mobilization. > "Mobilize every graphical element, perhaps several times over, to show the data." — Tufte, *VDQI*, Ch. 7 ## §1. Data Measures Built From the Data The *data measure* is the ink that actually locates or plots the v