Visualizing Proportions - Data Points: Visualization That Means Something - page 165

Again, this is just my design taste, and you can do what you want. Color
selection can also vary by case. The more graphs that you design, the bet-
ter feel you'll develop for what you like and what works best.

Use colors that
fit your theme
and guide your
readers' eyes with
varying shades.

Are you missing anything else? Well, there are no labels for the horizontal
axis. Now put them in. And while you're at it, label the areas to indicate the
age groups (Figure 5-25).

FIGurE 5-25 Labeled stacked area chart

I also added annotation on the right of the graph. What we're most inter-
ested in here is the change in age distribution. We can see that from the
graph, but the actual numbers can help drive the point home.

Lastly, put in the title and lead-in copy, along with the data source on the
bottom. Tweak the colors of the right annotations a little bit to add some
more meaning to the display, and you have the final graphic, as shown in
Figure 5-26.