What about confusing clutter? Information overload? Doesn't data have to be "boiled down" and "simplified"? These common questions miss the point, for the quantity of detail is an issue completely separate from the difficulty of reading. .
Allowing artist-illustrators to control the design and content of statistical graphics is almost like allowing typographers to control the content, style, and editing of prose.
If the statistics are boring, then you've got the wrong numbers.
Design cannot rescue failed content.
Small, noncomparative, highly labeled data sets usually belong in tables.
