Charting tips 004: You need guide lines
You can’t write a novel just because you can type. You can’t create a chart just because you know how to do it in Excel. First, you have to know the job, then the tool. Research for best practices in your field. Read what some authors have to say about specific formats and options. Then, build a framework and let it guide your information display needs.
(And, of course, never use Excel default options…)
[Update: designers have a similar problem: software doesn't make design easy...]
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Check out the tool that Juice Analytics created called Chart Cleaner. It’s a add-on for Excel that removes a lot of chartjunk with the click of a button. It’s not perfect, but for novice users it could be a blessing.
http://www.juiceanalytics.com/apps/
[...] strongly agree with this. It is not about charts (it never is): it is about data analysis and communication/presentation [...]