John Walkenbach’s Lime Crop
by Jon Peltier
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
Peltier Technical Services, Inc., Copyright © 2012.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Excel author extroardinaire and amateur banjoist John Walkenbach describes this year’s Lime Crop this weekend in The J-Walk Blog. I’ve reproduced John’s chart below.
In a completely unwarranted statement, John snidely wondered how long until I criticized his chart.
Man. How did I deserve that… Oh, yeah.
Well, he asked for it.
Here’s what I did like about John’s chart:
- He used PNG format for the image file.
- The chart clearly shows most of the data.
- The use of lime graphics was not overboard, in fact, one lime per lime is an appropriate scaling factor.
Here’s where John’s chart needs improvement:
- His ink to data ratio is way too high: look at that distracting shadow.
- His vertical axis title is tilted 90°, making it hard to read.
- The zero limes harvested in 2007 and 2008 are not clearly shown.
- Time series data is usually more effective on a line chart.
I’ve made the appropriate changes in the following chart.
I guess we should call this a Lime Chart.
Related Posts:
- Gradients, Fills, and Shadows, Oh My
- Interesting Links for 3-April-2009
- Excel Plotted My Bar Chart Upside-Down
- Rock Around The Clock
- 9 Steps to Simpler Chart Formatting
- Web Stats – June 2009
Posted: Monday, November 23rd, 2009 under Amusement.
Comments: 12
Comments
Comment from Debra Dalgleish
Time: Monday, November 23, 2009, 4:35 pm
Lime chart? Anyway, I thought John’s chart was sublime. Your version could be improved by a transparent background for the series markers.
But aren’t limes usually used in bars and pies?
Comment from John Walkenbach
Time: Monday, November 23, 2009, 5:03 pm
If you add a legend to the chart, you’d have a key lime.
Comment from Jon Peltier
Time: Monday, November 23, 2009, 6:23 pm
I actually did try to make the white background transparent. But due to the magic of antialiasing, I could only make the corners transparent, and there is still a white halo around the lime. And I didn’t feel like playing for hours just for a dumb picture for a silly chart.
Comment from Marlena
Time: Monday, November 23, 2009, 6:45 pm
Nice to see such a lime-hearted viz post ;o)
Comment from Jon Peltier
Time: Monday, November 23, 2009, 7:17 pm
I’m waiting for someone to bring up that old Harry Nilsson song….
Comment from Ute-S
Time: Monday, November 23, 2009, 7:34 pm
Your lime chart is misleading! It shows lime where there were no limes at all (2007 and 2008). You should consider inserting the image of a bottle of Rose’s Lime Juice instead, indicating that John had to rely on external supplies for his preferred cocktails ;-)
Comment from Debra Dalgleish
Time: Monday, November 23, 2009, 7:54 pm
Oh, now I get it. The yellowy bit behind each lime is the coconut.
Thanks to you and Harry, for the song that’s now stuck in my head.
Comment from Bob
Time: Monday, November 23, 2009, 8:40 pm
How long until the apples and oranges get mentioned?
: )
Comment from Anonymous
Time: Tuesday, November 24, 2009, 12:35 am
Nice to see a topic like this in the limelight. But don’t you think the topic is a little lime-iting?
Where did John get the lime.png? Is there a rum.png hanging around?
Comment from Doug Glancy
Time: Wednesday, November 25, 2009, 2:05 am
blimey!
Comment from Colin Banfield
Time: Wednesday, November 25, 2009, 12:33 pm
An analysis of the charts suggests that John should grow a different plant. PI (personal intelligence) at its best!
Comment from David Hager
Time: Thursday, November 26, 2009, 12:08 pm
Perhaps a tick mark would be appropriate for the 2007-2008 lyme years.
Write a comment
I welcome comments from my readers. If you have an opinion on this post, if you have a question or if there is anything to add, I want to hear from you. Whether you agree or disagree, please join the discussion.
If you want to include an image in your comment, post it on your own site or on one of the many free image sharing sites, and include a link in your comment. I'll download your image and insert the necessary html to display the image inline.
Read the PTS Blog Comment Policy.