I can't even tell you how much I love the activity over at the oktrends blog. Every post is pretty near perfect if it weren't for one glaring thing... the charts are TERRIBLE! Between the angled labels, outlined data series, and inconsistent treatment of typography, I'm too distracted by the charts to really get through the content. My twitchy mouse hand wants to get in there and clean them up.
It's times like these that I have to recognize that perhaps I'm more sensitive to the teachings of Tufte than is absolutely necessary, or maybe even productive. Being a data visualization purist comes with its own set of blinders. The fact of the matter is that the visual information being presented doesn't have to be perfect. It's a rather small sub-set of the audience that will even notice the hammy graphics. If the exercise is to craft a compelling story with a great observational data set, the oktrends blog continues to garner my respect and admiration.
