Edward Tufte Quotes

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.

Good design is a lot like clear thinking made visual.

The essential test of design is how well it assists the understanding of the content, not how stylish it is.

If you’re told what to look for, you can’t see anything else.

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.

Simple design, intense content.

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.

Above all else show the data.

Good design is clear thinking made visible, bad design is stupidity made visible

In general, I think audiences are a lot smarter than people think. So, it's not "know your audience", it's "respect your audience, and really know your content".

It is not how much empty space there is, but rather how it is used. It is not how much information there is, but rather how effectively it is arranged.

Design isn't crafting a beautiful, textured button with breathtaking animation. It's figuring out if there's a way to get rid of the button altogether.

If the statistics are boring, you've got the wrong numbers.

Design cannot rescue failed content.

The commonality between science and art is in trying to see profoundly - to develop strategies of seeing and showing.

Clutter and confusion are failures of design, not attributes of information.

There are only two industries that refer to their customers as 'users'.

If your words or images are not on point, making them dance in color won't make them relevant.

There is no such thing as information overload, just bad design. If something is cluttered and/or confusing, fix your design.

An open mind but not an empty head.

The world is complex, dynamic, multidimensiona l; the paper is static, flat. How are we to represent the rich visual world of experience and measurement on mere flatland?

Clutter is not a property of information. Clutter is a failure of design.

If your words aren't truthful, the finest optically letter-spaced typography won't help.

Beautiful Evidence is about the theory and practice of analytical design.