We all understand that charts are useful. How do you ensure that they are also on-brand? Consistent? Beautiful?

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Getting started with your own style guide

01 Principles

Provide a clear philosophy and framework for making design decisions with principles that guide your decisions, maintain integrity, and represent your brand.

02 Foundation

Set up a framework of basic building blocks like color, type, and spacing to give your guide a foundation to build from. Ensure you understand who you are designing for.

03 Content

The words we use play a huge role, especially when it comes to telling stories with data. Help your team by creating guides that address voice, tone, and grammar.

04 Visualizations

Avoid mishaps by providing information on chart types and when to use each. Teach best practices for the structure and style of charts, maps, and diagrams.

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Who we are

Alan Wilson is a Principal Product Designer at Adobe and adjunct professor at BYU. He's focused on making complex ideas easier to understand.

Jonathan Schwabish, PhD is an economist, writer, and educator known for helping organizations communicate research and policy findings with clarity and accessibility.

Amy Cesal is a freelance information designer who helps organizations build data visualization practices and style guides.

Maxene Graze combines research, engineering, and multisensory visualization methods to bridge data analysis with human experience.