The New York Times generally has excellent information graphics, and uses a distinctive house style. Here are three typical graphs, from this article in the May 7 edition.

• Note the strong contrast between headings (in bold caps), graph title (upper and lower case) and series labels (caps).
• The same font is used throughout, the same size in axis labels as in graph titles. This means the labels are larger and the graphs smaller than Excel's defaults.
• Only two shades of black are used throughout, and no color or patterns.
• The shades and labels used here is repeated in the next two graphs (see below), consistently referring to the same series. The choice of shades intuitively corresponds to specific (Ohio) and general (U.S.).
• The bars here sensibly overlap instead of being offset as is usual for bar charts.
• Direct labelling of sample values is used instead of the little labelled swatches that Excel produces—one less interpretative task for the reader. Note how the sample data is offset, so it can't be confused with real numbers.
• Explanations are right on the chart: what's a WIN is noted by the data, instead of in a caption or title.

• All these graphs are as small as they reasonably can be, yet the bar and especially the line chart contain quite a bit of data.
• No frame around the charts, and no background colors or decoration.
• The bars have no stroke, just a fill.
• No y axis line.
• Lightly dotted y gridlines.
• Directly labelling one of the values on the y axis with the unit (in this case, percentage, but it could be dollars or kg or anything else) rather than using a rotated axis label (which is usually hard to read and a waste of space).
• Abbreviating years as '01 rather than needlessly writing them in full.
• No tickmarks on the x axis; instead, dividers are used between years.
• The Ohio series is thinner where it has to be (overlapping bars), but the same width where it doesn't (overlapping lines). All differences should be for a reason; otherwise, keep things the same.
• Unobtrusive gaps are used for the U.S. series in the bar chart, just thick enough to tell the bars apart, but not so think the series can't be viewed as a single shape.

And note some nice little touches: the % symbol in the y axis label extending into the chart a little, so the numbers align properly; the way the line for the label "OHIO" knocks out the gridline so they don't clash; and how one of the 2004 values is allowed to dip below the x axis.

A very close reading of a well-designed information graphic can yield all sorts of good ideas. Good design should require a close reading to unpack; anything immediately obvious is probably too flashy and getting in the way of the data. These examples show how a chart can be simple, beautiful, and functional at the same time.